- Title
- An exploration of first-time mothers' experiences of exclusive breastfeeding and support in the Buffalo City Metropolitan, South Africa
- Creator
- Dasheka, Zukiswa Theodorah
- Subject
- Breastfeeding--South Africa Breastfeeding
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- Nursing Science
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11096
- Identifier
- vital:37130
- Description
- There are inadequate child feeding practices worldwide, and this varies amongst the regions. Suboptimal exclusive breastfeeding remains the key contributor to the leading causes of child mortalities, namely, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. An infant who is not exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life has fourteen times likelihood of dying of all causes, especially, diarrhoea and pneumonia compared to an exclusively breastfed infant. Worldwide, only 40 percent infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives. South Africa, on the other hand, has an alarming figure of only 8 percent infants that are exclusively breastfed for six months. A qualitative approach, with an exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was chosen to seek deeper understanding and meaning of first-time mothers’ experiences regarding exclusive breastfeeding practices and support’s influence on maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding within their natural environment. First-time mothers were the population for this study while the target population were first-time mothers who had given birth to a live, full term and healthy infant, regardless of the delivery mode in one of the Community Health Centres or hospitals within Buffalo City Metropolitan, South Africa. A non-probability, purposive sample of 10 participants was used. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Fort Hare Research Ethics Committee. The Eastern Cape Department of Health issued the clearance certificate. Informed consent was obtained from participants before data collection. Emotional risk protection was managed by the researcher through stopping of the interviews when the participant seemed emotional affected by the interviews. The relevant ethical considerations were accommodated. Trustworthiness was ensured through observing the principles of transferability, credibility, confirmability and dependability. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview guide and conducted at the participant’s home or at the local clinic per participants’ choice. Two audio-recorders were used to capture the data. Data were then analysed according to Creswell’s steps and Tesch’s eight coding steps. Codes, categories, sub-categories and themes were formulated. Findings The key findings were challenges, empowerment, support and resilience during initiation of breastfeeding and diverse support and resilience during maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion All participants agreed on the benefits of breastfeeding, receiving information about exclusive breastfeeding during antenatal care and making a decision to exclusively breastfeed upon delivery. It is evident that the information received by first-time mothers is not congruent with the challenges they faced during initiation. There is a need, therefore, for nurses to find a way of sharing breastfeeding practice with the community members in order to avoid mixed messages which end up confusing to the first-time mother. Furthermore, the education given to the first-time mothers needs to be individualised to focus on individual needs of these mothers. Given the current staffing structure in the delivery centres, nurses are not always enough to give full focus and practical assistance to first-time mothers. It is therefore recommended that peer supporters be available to play this role, post-delivery, before the first-time mother is discharged. The formulation of compulsory supportive group among the first-time mothers was suggested.
- Format
- 83 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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UFH Department of Nursing Science
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | DASHEKA FINAL FINAL DISSERTATION OCTOBER 2018 D.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |