Abstract
Background: Exclusive breast feeding has several advantages for both infant and mother. It protects child from several disease and protect mother from cancer. Alternative formula has been manufactured to replace breastfeeding in case of presence of breastfeeding barriers.
Aim: To determine the factors that influence choosing a specific formula brand, number and reasons for changing brands, and what are the most common brands used among the mothers in Medina
Methods: This study is cross sectional, it was conducted on mothers who use formula partially or completely in Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia, using an online survey.
Results: In this study, there were 34.4% mothers using complete artificial milk, whereas 65.6% reported partial use. The most common cause of using formula was physician advice (46.1%). The main source of information about artificial milk was pediacrian and physician (67.5%). Physician advice was the main factor that affects the decision of mothers to choose certain type of formula (67.7%).
Conclusion: Partial formula use was very common among mothers, mothers were affected by physician advice in using formula in general and using certain type, however changing the type of formula was more prone to be affected by the infant needs.