Abstract
An important step in reducing infants’ risk of being malnourished, contracting infectious diseases and their accompanying mortalities is to gain an understanding of the experiences of mothers’ complementary feeding practices. While research exists on complementary feeding practices, limited research is documented on complementary feeding experiences of first-time mothers in Ghana with no evidence from the Effutu Municipality. In view of this lacuna in literature, this study investigated the lived experiences of first-time mothers on the initiation of complementary feeding in the Effutu Municipality using Social Constructivism as a theoretical foundation. The phenomenological research design within the interpretivism paradigm was followed in the conduct of the study where 12 first-time mothers were sampled through purposive and convenience sampling techniques with the main instrument being a semi-structured interview guide. After meeting the trustworthiness criteria, thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that first-time mothers initiated complementary feeding before the recommended period of six months. Besides, foods used in initiating complementary feeding were mostly cereal-based which is known to be deficient in other vital nutrients such as iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B6 required and recommended for the healthy development of the child. The findings on experiences of first-time mothers towards complementary feeding indicated that they were inadequately prepared to initiate complementary feeding. Based on these results, it was recommended that the municipal health directorate should organize health promotion programmes to assist first-time mothers to better understand complementary feeding with its accompanying positive consequences of improving child growth and development.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0955/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>
Highlights
Malnutrition, mortality, and morbidity among infants are regarded as a global public health concern in these modern times, with empirical data pointing to incorrect feeding practices as a key contributor
The data gathered were categorized under themes such that theme 1 gives an account on initiation of complementary feeding by first-time mothers from birth to 4 months, theme 2 presents initiation of complementary feeding from 4-6 months of age, theme 3 detailed the account on complementary feeding from 6 months of age
This study recommends that the Public Health Departments of the hospitals should organize serious education during antenatal and postnatal visitations for mothers on the dangers associated with the early introduction and inappropriate complementary feeding practices
Summary
Malnutrition, mortality, and morbidity among infants are regarded as a global public health concern in these modern times, with empirical data pointing to incorrect feeding practices as a key contributor. Consistent with this claim, it has been reported that globally, 5.3 million children under 5 years died in 2018 (World Health Organization, 2018). In 2020, the World Health Organization reported that 149 million children less than 5 years were estimated to be stunted (too short for their age) 45 million were estimated to be wasted (too thin for height) while around 45% of infants’ morbidity are linked to undernutrition which mostly occurs in low to middle-income countries. There is the need for more research to generate very definitive and compelling evidence such as the lived experiences of firsttime mothers on their practice of complementary feeding
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