First Time Mothers Perception and Experience About Breastfeeding Support Received from Nurses in Health Facilities in Aba

Abstract

This study investigated perception and explore the experiences of first-time mothers on breastfeeding support received from nurses in health facilities in Aba Nigeria. Four research questions and two hypothesis guided the study. The design of the study was a quantitative and qualitative design method. The population of this study comprised an accessible population of 386 women attending antenatal and post-natal in selected health facilities in Aba. Random sampling techniques was used to select 198 first time mothers from the population. A researcher made questionnaire and interview was used to collect data for the study. The questionnaire was subjected to a reliability test using Crombach Alpha and a reliability index of 0.71 was obtained. The data gotten from the instrument were analysed using mean and standard deviation while the interview data were analysed through several steps of systematising, condensing, and interpreting the data. The findings of the study revealed that 2% of the respondents were singles, 65% were married, 23% were divorced, 5% were separated while 5% were widows. 5% of the respondents had attended primary education, 25% had attended secondary education, 60% had attended tertiary education while 10% had no formal education. 5% of the respondents were business women, 25% were civil servants, 60% worked in private sector while 10% were artisans. Furthermore, the result revealed that the perception of first-time mothers on information breastfeeding support received from nurses in some selected health facilities in Aba includes and not limited to the fact that Nurses give enough breastfeeding information to first time mothers and that the encouragement of first time mothers is very important. The study concludes that first-time mothers do need professional, practical and social support in the form of information, emotional support and encouragement for initiation and maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. Therefore, the study recommends that Nurses should they educate first time mothers on the importance of breastfeeding during antenatal.