Knowledge of mothers regarding developmental milestones of infants: A Descriptive Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Developmental milestones in children or infants are a certain set of skills or age-specific tasks. Missed or delayed milestones in infancy can be symptoms of serious medical conditions. If parents understand their children’s development, they can tailor their expectations and provide stimulation. This study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge regarding the development milestones of infants among mothers. A descriptive study was conducted on 100 mothers of neonates visiting pediatric OPD and gynecological unit (Postnatal Ward).A convenience sampling technique was used to collect data. More than half of mother’s i.e. 60% had an average level of knowledge, 22% of mothers had a poor level of knowledge and 18% of mothers had a good level of knowledge. Mothers had the highest (75.25%) mean knowledge percentage in general information followed by 53.33%, in developmental delay and least (37.50%) mean knowledge percentage in language development. The overall mean knowledge score is 10.240±2.40 and there is no association (p>0.05) between the knowledge level of mothers with selected demographic variables. It is concluded that the majority of the mothers of neonates had average knowledge regarding developmental milestones.