Infant feeding practices
in the context of HIV
Marguerite Marlow - 2017
ABstract
Appropriate early feeding practices are crucial for the survival and health of young children. No breastfeeding or non-exclusive breastfeeding leads to high morbidity and mortality amongst infants. The World Health Organisation recommends that mothers exclusively breastfeed their infants for six months and continue breastfeeding for two years. This includes infants born to HIV-positive mothers, since mixed feeding (combining breast milk substitutes with breastfeeding) significantly increases vertical transmission of HIV. Despite various strategies to improve optimum breastfeeding, most infants receive a combination of breast milk, formula milk and other foods in the first months of life. This is problematic since mixed feeding carries the highest risk of HIV- transmission, diarrhoea and other health problems for infants.
The study used a qualitative design to explore factors that enable or prevent mothers from adhering to exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in one rural and one peri-urban community in South Africa. Mothers with infants between three and four months of age participated in individual interviews or focus group discussions conducted by trained data collectors in isiXhosa. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English. Transcripts were coded with ATLAS.ti software and analysed using thematic analysis to identify barriers and facilitators to EBF.
Several barriers were identified that prohibited mothers from practicing EBF. Feeding success, concerns about breast milk sufficiency and infant weight gain played an important role in determining feeding practices. Involvement of other caregivers, time demands of infant care and competing bio-medical and socio-cultural concerns negatively affected EBF adherence. Interventions need to address several enabling factors, including iii structural and social support and changing attitudes and subjective norms to provide the conditions conducive to EBF adherence.
The study used a qualitative design to explore factors that enable or prevent mothers from adhering to exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in one rural and one peri-urban community in South Africa. Mothers with infants between three and four months of age participated in individual interviews or focus group discussions conducted by trained data collectors in isiXhosa. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English. Transcripts were coded with ATLAS.ti software and analysed using thematic analysis to identify barriers and facilitators to EBF.
Several barriers were identified that prohibited mothers from practicing EBF. Feeding success, concerns about breast milk sufficiency and infant weight gain played an important role in determining feeding practices. Involvement of other caregivers, time demands of infant care and competing bio-medical and socio-cultural concerns negatively affected EBF adherence. Interventions need to address several enabling factors, including iii structural and social support and changing attitudes and subjective norms to provide the conditions conducive to EBF adherence.
Complete Document
| marlow_thesis.pdf |
