Attitudes and Community Perspectives on Male Involvement in Breastfeeding, in Juba, South Sudan

Abstract

Fathers strongly influence the lactating mothers' decisions to initiate and continue breastfeeding as the father's infant feeding preferences may affect her intentions to breastfeed. This inspiration is a product of the perceptions of their roles as members of the breastfeeding family. Despite this, available breastfeeding promotion interventions in South Sudan, such as mother-to-mother support groups, focus on the mother. Equally, available literature on breastfeeding addresses general topics with limited exploration of male partner involvement. This study sought to understand male partner breastfeeding attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and opinions as drivers to actions, community views on male involvement, breastfeeding in public, and barriers to male participation in the breastfeeding process using a quantitative-qualitative methodology. Two hundred seventy-five fathers of children under two years responded to 9 close-ended questions exploring their attitudes towards breastfeeding, and 63 community leaders, women groups, religious leaders, and individuals of interest participated in 15 Key informant interviews and five focus group discussions. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28.0 and thematically to generate frequency tables, median (Mdn), and interquartile range (IQR), and recurring patterns. 200 (73%) of fathers were knowledgeable of the benefits of breastfeeding, and 224 (82%) did not believe breastfeeding negatively affects marriage. 217 (79%) disagreed that women lose their attractiveness when breastfeeding. 247 (90%) supported breastfeeding in public, and 224 (82%) agreed to share breastfeeding responsibilities. Patriarchal issues, gender role segregation, Sexism, and false beliefs; work-related, social, economic, and personal factors emerged as key barriers to male involvement in breastfeeding. While this study essentially presented positive attitudes of male partners towards breastfeeding, the cultural barriers that emerged are significant. Therefore, there is a need to design context-specific models to dispel misinformation about male participation in breastfeeding and expand on standard supportive practices.