Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.

<h4>Background</h4>Education on exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practices is usually given in the form of health talks by health workers (HWs). The need for HWs to be well-informed about cultural practices and misconceptions that act as barriers to EBF has been documented in literature. Th...

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Main Authors: Christiana Nsiah-Asamoah, David Teye Doku, Samuel Agblorti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239278
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spelling doaj-b1f71c2e595a4636a677e02d47d7d94c2021-03-04T11:13:00ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01159e023927810.1371/journal.pone.0239278Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.Christiana Nsiah-AsamoahDavid Teye DokuSamuel Agblorti<h4>Background</h4>Education on exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practices is usually given in the form of health talks by health workers (HWs). The need for HWs to be well-informed about cultural practices and misconceptions that act as barriers to EBF has been documented in literature. This information can guide HWs in developing interventions such as health talks which are culturally sensitive. However, this has not been explored from the perspectives of HWs in Ghana. In this paper, we report mothers' and grandmothers' misconceptions and cultural practices that are barriers to EBF in two rural districts in Ghana from the perspectives of Community Health Workers and Community Health Volunteers.<h4>Methods</h4>We used qualitative data collected in the Kwahu Afram Plains South and North Districts of Ghana through nine focus group discussions (FGDs) among HWs and followed the data saturation principle. All FGDs were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and translated from local dialects to English. The emerging themes were used in writing a narrative account, guided by the principles of the thematic analysis.<h4>Results</h4>Our main findings included mothers' and grandmothers' perceptions that HWs themselves do not practice EBF. Mothers had the perception that grandmothers did not practice EBF but their children grew well, and gestures of babies suggested their readiness to start eating. Misconceptions revealed included beliefs that breastmilk is watery in nature and does not satisfy infants. Another misconception was that babies gain weight faster when not exclusively breastfed but fed on infant formulas. A custom of giving corn flour mixed with water or light porridge during the first few days after birth to welcome newborns was also reported.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The reports of the HWs revealed that several socio-cultural factors and misconceptions of mothers and grandmothers negatively influence EBF practices of mothers. Findings from this study highlight the need for HWs to provide culturally appropriate counselling services on breastfeeding not only to mothers but also to grandmothers and fathers in order to promote EBF and reap its benefits.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239278
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Christiana Nsiah-Asamoah
David Teye Doku
Samuel Agblorti
spellingShingle Christiana Nsiah-Asamoah
David Teye Doku
Samuel Agblorti
Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Christiana Nsiah-Asamoah
David Teye Doku
Samuel Agblorti
author_sort Christiana Nsiah-Asamoah
title Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.
title_short Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.
title_full Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.
title_fullStr Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.
title_full_unstemmed Mothers' and Grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: A qualitative study involving Health Workers in two rural districts of Ghana.
title_sort mothers' and grandmothers' misconceptions and socio-cultural factors as barriers to exclusive breastfeeding: a qualitative study involving health workers in two rural districts of ghana.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2020-01-01
description <h4>Background</h4>Education on exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practices is usually given in the form of health talks by health workers (HWs). The need for HWs to be well-informed about cultural practices and misconceptions that act as barriers to EBF has been documented in literature. This information can guide HWs in developing interventions such as health talks which are culturally sensitive. However, this has not been explored from the perspectives of HWs in Ghana. In this paper, we report mothers' and grandmothers' misconceptions and cultural practices that are barriers to EBF in two rural districts in Ghana from the perspectives of Community Health Workers and Community Health Volunteers.<h4>Methods</h4>We used qualitative data collected in the Kwahu Afram Plains South and North Districts of Ghana through nine focus group discussions (FGDs) among HWs and followed the data saturation principle. All FGDs were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and translated from local dialects to English. The emerging themes were used in writing a narrative account, guided by the principles of the thematic analysis.<h4>Results</h4>Our main findings included mothers' and grandmothers' perceptions that HWs themselves do not practice EBF. Mothers had the perception that grandmothers did not practice EBF but their children grew well, and gestures of babies suggested their readiness to start eating. Misconceptions revealed included beliefs that breastmilk is watery in nature and does not satisfy infants. Another misconception was that babies gain weight faster when not exclusively breastfed but fed on infant formulas. A custom of giving corn flour mixed with water or light porridge during the first few days after birth to welcome newborns was also reported.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The reports of the HWs revealed that several socio-cultural factors and misconceptions of mothers and grandmothers negatively influence EBF practices of mothers. Findings from this study highlight the need for HWs to provide culturally appropriate counselling services on breastfeeding not only to mothers but also to grandmothers and fathers in order to promote EBF and reap its benefits.
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239278
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