Project Materials

INFANT WEANING KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES AMONG MOTHERS

ABSTRACT

The term “weaning” describes the process by which supplemental foods are added to a baby’s diet after the first six months of life. All throughout the globe, people often wean their babies too soon or introduce them other feeds too early. Mothers’ knowledge and actions around baby weaning were the focus of this investigation. The study design that was chosen was descriptive. At three different Primary Healthcare Centres in Ikenne Local Government, 260 mothers made up the population. We used the Leslie Kish method to calculate the sample size, and then we used simple random sampling to choose 100 moms to participate in the research. In order to gather information from the participants, a questionnaire was created. The questionnaire was subjected to professionals in the area to ensure its face and content validity. A Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.85 was obtained from the reliability tests conducted using the split-half approach. The statistical program for the social sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used for data processing. Descriptive statistics, namely mean standard deviation, were used to address two study concerns. The inferential statistics of Pearson correlation were used to evaluate four hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05. According to the results, 8 percent of moms had a poor level of understanding on weaning their infants, 50 percent had a moderate level of knowledge, and 42 percent had a high level of knowledge. In terms of baby weaning practice, 3 mothers (or 3% of the total) rated it as high, 66 women (or 66% of the total) as moderate, and 31 mothers (or 31% of the total) as poor.In mothers, weaning behaviours are significantly correlated with employment (r = 0.035; p = 0.004). A mother’s level of education is significantly correlated with her infant weaning practices (r = 0.003; p = 0.000), but her ethnicity is not significantly correlated with her practices (r = 0.036; p = 0.723). On the other hand, a mother’s level of knowledge is significantly correlated with her practices (r = 0.086; p = 0.001). Finally, moms have a modest level of understanding and experience when it comes to weaning their infants. The research concluded that nurses should provide ongoing education and training to moms on how to wean their infants.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The term “weaning” describes the process by which supplemental foods are added to a baby’s diet after the first six months of life. According to research conducted by Inayati, Scherbaum, Purwestri, Hormann, Wirawan, Suryantan, Hartono, Bloem, Pangaribuan, Biesalki, Hoffmann, and Bellows (2012), many communities around the world commonly wean infants from breast milk with the wrong method, or with the introduction of complementary feeding too soon. There is often a lack of understanding about when and how weaning occurs, and many issues may arise during this time. Children can’t grow and develop normally without proper nourishment while they’re young (Ashmika, Deerajen, Prity & Rajesh, 2013). Worldwide, people agree that nursing is good for moms and babies since breast milk is the optimal food for babies (Ku & Chow, 2010). Infants should be nursed exclusively for the first six months, according to Hanif (2011). Then, supplemental meals may be offered with breastmilk for up to two years or longer. There is no time like the first two years for a kid to grow and develop. According to research (Kimani-Murage, Madise, Fotso, Kyobutungi, Mutau, Gitau & Yatich, 2011), the effects of malnutrition on cognitive development, academic performance, and economic output might be severe at this time.

Primarily, the first two years of a child’s life are characterised by malnutrition due to inadequate breastfeeding and supplemental feeding habits, as well as high rates of illness caused by infectious infections. A kid benefits in the short and long term from breastfeeding. It safeguards against metabolic illnesses and obesity in old age, enhances cognitive and motor development, and decreases newborn mortality and infections (WHO, 2010). In order to fulfil the nutritional needs of the newborn and ensure optimum growth, development, and health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding throughout the first six months, starting from the first hour of birth (Kimani-Murage et al., 2011). In order to satisfy the changing demands of her developing baby, mothers should continue nursing for at least two years and start giving their babies complementary meals that are nutritionally sufficient, safe, and given correctly at six months. Choosing light, nutritious food that is simple for the infant to absorb is important during weaning since the goal is to progressively add foods other than breast milk into the baby’s diet, first to supplement the breast milk and later to wean completely off the breast milk. The bulk of nutrition issues in rural regions are caused by improper weaning food, thus it’s best to start with a lighter, more nutritious diet and gradually transition to a thicker feed while maintaining good sanitation (Shadia & Bedor, 2013).

From country to country, there is a wide range of predictors of nursing and weaning behaviours. Infant feeding issues include reluctance to eat, colic, diarrhoea, and vomiting are factors that impact the weaning process (Ashmika et al., 2013). Mothers have difficulties due to these conditions, which may affect the feeding pattern indirectly or directly. The researcher plans to explore mothers’ knowledge and practices of weaning their infants from breast milk in the Ikenne local government area of Ogun State in light of the identified causes, which include the early introduction of supplemental food and inappropriate weaning from breast milk.

1.2 Problem Statement

One of the most misunderstood phases of children’s development is weaning. Some moms start supplementing their babies’ diets with foods other than breast milk as soon as they are born, while others wait until their babies are nine months old or older; in any case, the baby suffers. In order for the child to continue to get the advantages of nursing and get the nutrients they need from supplementary meals, the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests a progressive weaning phase of 6 months to 2 years (Hanif, 2011). However, whereas 11.6% of mothers progressively introduced complementary foods to their children’s diets, almost half of mothers (52%) weaned their children suddenly (Somiya, 2014). Weaning is a pivotal period in a child’s development. When a child’s diet mostly consisted of breast milk begins to shift to solid foods, this is called the “weaning” stage. Malnutrition often occurs in a substantial proportion of children at this time, even though it normally goes easily if the food shift is well-planned. According to Somiya (2014), ten million children less than five years old pass away annually. Inadequate weaning practices promote malnutrition, which accounts for almost 50% of fatalities. Nearly two-thirds of the fatalities may have been avoided with sufficient health services. The time between starting to eat solid meals at home and stopping to nurse is still the most precarious for developing undernourishment. Children who are undernourished often lose important cognitive abilities. Sickness strikes them more often. Dinesh and Sushilkumar (2011) note that even if they manage to live, they could have lifelong physical or mental impairments.

Infants are at increased risk for malnutrition, stunted development, infections, illnesses, and high mortality due to poor weaning techniques and diets (Somiya, 2014). Properly prepared food is that which is nutrient-dense, appropriately textured, and served at the correct temperature. Malnutrition and disease may develop if experts aren’t aware of how to wean a kid properly and can’t gauge how hungry the youngster is. Somiya (2014) argues that children need special attention and monitoring throughout the weaning stage to ensure their health. Since the mother is the primary carer for her child’s physical and psychological development, learning more about weaning can help mothers wean their babies more effectively. There is no more important connection for a child’s development than the one between a mother and her newborn. The importance of providing moms with accurate information and instruction about the weaning process and when it should begin cannot be overstated. Properly weaning newborns requires information, and nurses may play an important role in providing it. Hence, research on mothers’ knowledge and behaviours about baby weaning is necessary in Ikenne Local Government Area, Ogun State.

1.3 Objective of the Study

The primary goal of this research is to examine how mothers in the Ikenne LGA of Ogun State handle the process of weaning their infants. Here are the particular goals:

1. find out how much the moms at three different primary healthcare centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area know about baby weaning;

2. determine the maternal knowledge and experience with baby weaning among patients at three Ikenne Local Government Area primary healthcare centres;

3. determine which of three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area’s three locations’ moms’ occupations correlates with their methods of weaning their infants;

4. find out how three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area relate to one another in terms of mothers’ ethnicity and how they wean their infants;

5. determine if there is a correlation between mothers’ degree of education and the methods they use to wean their infants at three different primary healthcare centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area;

6. to find out how three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area relate to moms’ knowledge and how they wean their infants.

1.4 Research Questions

Our investigation yielded the following results:

1. how well-informed the moms who visit one of three primary healthcare centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area are about nursing their babies.

2. How well do moms who visit one of three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area really wean their infants? 6.

1.5 Hypotheses

We used a 0.05 threshold of significance to test the following hypotheses:

HO1. Mothers’ occupations did not correlate with their methods of weaning their infants at any of the three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area.

HO2 The moms who visited one of three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area did not exhibit any significant differences in how they weaned their infants based on their ethnicity.

HO3. Mothers’ habits about weaning their infants do not vary significantly according to their degree of education among those who visited one of three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area.

HO4. Results from three Primary Healthcare Centres in the Ikenne Local Government Area did not show a correlation between moms’ knowledge and their behaviours on baby weaning.

1.6 Research Area

Mothers’ understanding of and approach to weaning their infants in the Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State were the focus of this research. The research is constrained by the participants’ ability to be recruited.

1.7 The Study’s Justification

In addition to laying the groundwork for future research on mothers’ baby weaning knowledge and behaviours, this study would aid in establishing that these areas are severely lacking.

Inadequacies in mothers’ knowledge and habits around baby weaning may be addressed using the advice provided by this research.

The research would also be useful for health organisations and federal, state, and local governments in developing policies to educate and support moms as they wean their infants.

1.8 Operational Definition of Terms

The term “weaning” describes the process by which supplemental foods are added to a baby’s diet after the first six months of life.

Parent: A woman who gives birth to a kid and continues to care for them until they are at least 24 months old.

A mother’s level of knowledge about weaning her baby is indicated by her knowledge score.

The practice score is a measure of the mother’s activity when it comes to weaning her child.

Children whose ages range from 0 to 24 months are considered infants.

One of the LGAs in Ogun state is known as Ikenne.