Study area and population: This was a cross-sectional study, and Rajshahi district was the target area of the present study. It is one of the oldest districts of Bangladesh that belongs to the Northern region of the country under Rajshahi division. The area of Rajshahi district is 2407.01 sq km [13]. A total number of population living in Rajshahi district is 22, 868,74 including 11,844,48 males and 11,024,26 females [14]. All mothers who had at least one child (age, 6-24 months) were considered as the study population.
Sample size determination: The required sample size for this study was estimated using the formula given by Cochran [15]:

where n= the required sample size, p is the proportion of prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding (here, p= 0.514) and z=1.96 at 95% confidence interval, and d is the margin of error, we considered d=0.05. The prevalence of initiation of breastfeeding (p-value) was taken from a previous publication [12]. This formula provided that 384 sample was adequate for our present study. However, 440 samples (15% extra) were considered for this study for allowing some failure cases.
Sampling: Multistage random sampling was utilized for this study. In the first stage, 2 Upazilas were selected randomly from 9 Upazilas in Rajshahi district. In the second stage, 2 unions were selected from each selected Upazila randomly. Similarly, 1 ward was selected randomly from 30 wards of Rajshahi City Corporation. In the third and final stage, 80 mothers were selected from each selected union and 120 mothers were selected from the selected ward randomly. In each stage, a simple random sampling method (by lottery) was used.
Data collection procedures: A self-administered questionnaire was used for collecting information from selected mothers during the period January to March, 2019. However, data collectors filled up the questionnaire on behalf of illiterate women. The questionnaire was draft and sent to five experts in health sciences for taking their opinions/suggestions to improve it. It was revised according to experts’ comments/suggestions. The original questionnaire was in English, and the revised questionnaire was translated into Bangla (mother tongue of Bangladesh), and the Bangla questionnaire was checked by present authors. Before, collecting data, we discussed with selected mothers and their husbands/guardians about our present study. Unfortunately, 19 selected mothers did not agree to provide their information. Finally, 421 mothers provided their information which was analyzed in this study. All necessary information of our respondents was collected from the respective ward councilor’s office/union parishad. A pilot survey had been done for observing whether there was any lacking or drawback in the questionnaire. We did not get lacking or drawbacks.
Measurement of anthropometric data: Digital scales and a portable stadiometer was used to measure weight and height of our samples respectively. Measurement of individuals was taken without shoes and wearing light clothes using the techniques of Martin and Saller [16]. Height and weight were measured to the nearest 1 cm and 0.1 kg, respectively, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated using the formula, BMI = weight (kg)/{height (m)}2. BMI was classified into three classes: (i) underweight (18.5 kg/m2<BMI), (ii) normal weight (18.5≤BMI<25kg/m2) and (iii) overweight (BMI≥25kg/m2) [12]. In addition, mothers’ age was calculated by the difference between the date of interview and their date of birth, and we considered the nearest higher integer.
Outcome variable: Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) was considered as the outcome variable in this study. It was measured by a question, “Did you provide your breast milk to your newborn within one hour after delivered? EIBF was expressed as a dichotomous variable with category 1 for initiation of breastfeeding within one hour (early initiation) and category 0 for initiation of breastfeeding after one hour (late initiation).
Independent variables: Some socio-economic, demographic and anthropometric factors were considered as independent variables for this study on the basis of previous studies [12, 17-18].
Statistical analysis: Frequency distribution (percentage) was used to determine the prevalence of EIBF among mothers living in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. Chi-square test was conducted to assess the association between independent variables and the EIBF, the significant associated factors were considered as independent variable in multivariable binary logistic regression model. Binary multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to find the effect of socio-economic, demographic, anthropometric and behavioral factors on EIBF among mothers in Rajshahi district.
The underlying multivariable binary logistic regression can be described as follows:
Log[P/1-P]= β0+ β1X1+ β2X2+ β3X3+…+ βKXk
where P = Probability of early initiation of breastfeeding (coded as 1)
1-P = Probability of late initiation of breastfeeding (coded as 0)
Xis are respective independent variables (i=1,2,…,k), and βis are the regression coefficients. We used the magnitude of the standard error (SE) for detecting the multicollinearity problem among the independent variables, if the magnitude of the SE lies between 0.001 and 0.5, it was judged that there was no evidence of multicollinearity [19]. A value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant in the analysis. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (IBM Version 21).