Objective
This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the experience of South African working mothers in the adherence to exclusive breastfeeding when returning from maternity leave.
Methods
The data of the study was collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Eight breastfeeding mothers were purposefully selected from two primary health care clinics in Rustenburg, North West Province, South Africa. The data were coded, categorized, and clustered into themes using Giorgi’s phenomenological analysis. Ethical considerations and measures of trustworthiness were adhered to throughout the study.
Results
The findings revealed three themes: a desire for working mothers to continue the adherence to exclusive breastfeeding, workplace support for breastfeeding mothers in the adherence to exclusive breastfeeding, and an unsuitable workplace environment for the adherence to exclusive breastfeeding. Six sub-themes were identified: the need to return to the workplace soon after baby’s birth, psychological responses in the adherence to exclusive breastfeeding, lack of support from employers and co-workers in the adherence to exclusive breastfeeding, lack of or partial implementation of breastfeeding policies in the workplace, the workplace not being supportive for mothers’ having to express and the workplace not being supportive for mothers’ having to store breastmilk.
Conclusion
Based on the findings, South African government should revisit employment policies to support working mothers who need to continue with exclusive breastfeeding after returning from maternity leave.
Background: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Hypertension is a primary risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and affects more than a quarter of the global adult population. Africa is a continent where the prevalence of non-communicable diseases including cardiovas- cular disease and hypertension, is increasing rapidly. Botswana is a developing country in Sub-Saharan Africa. In such contexts the early identification of hypertension, through community screening initiatives, is an important tool for the management of cardiovas- cular disease in the population.
Objective: To investigate and describe the prevalence of hypertension in a sample of community members residing in a low-income peri-urban setting in Gaborone, Botswana.
Method: 364 adult participants had their blood pressures mea- sured during a community health screening exercise. The values were analysed and categorised using the American Heart Association classification scale as either being normal, elevated, hypertensive stage 1 or hypertensive stage 2.
Results: 234/364 (64%) of participants were found to have blood pressures within normal limits. 53/364 (15%) had elevated blood pressures, 57/364 (16%) were in hypertensive stage 1 and 20/364 (5%) were in hypertensive stage 2.
Conclusions: Hypertension in Africa is a growing concern. Botswana appears to be no exception with a 36% prevalence of abnormal blood pressures being recorded. However, the majority of these were classified as elevated or stage 1. Early identification and treatment of hypertension in these early stages can significant- ly decrease the risk of developing stage 2 hypertension and the related systemic complications.
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