Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence and associated factors of exclusive breastfeeding with in the first six months of life among mothers.

Material and Method: The crosssectional study was conducted between January - June 2019 with 108 participants with babies aged between 6 months and 2 years. The data were obtained with a questionnaire form consisting of 3 sections and 24 questions. The infant taking only breast milk and no additional food, water, or other fluids with the exception of medicines and vitamins or mineral drops for the first 6 months was used as the definition of exclusive breastfeeding. In comparison of two independent groups, Student t test was used for normal distributed continuous data. Categorical data were compared with chisquare test. Significance level was determined as p <0.05.

Results:The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months was 33.3%. Education level, age, working status, caesarean delivery, breastfeeding training, early start of breastfeeding and bottlefeeding are the associated factors that affect exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months. Insufficient breast milk perception is the most common reason for mothers to start supplementary food before 6 months.

Conclusion: The exclusive breastfeeding rates in the first 6 months were found to be insufficient. There are many factors affecting only breastfeeding and these factors should be struggled to achieve the desired breastfeeding rates.