Exploring the Perspectives of South African Parents and Primary Caregivers Living in Low-Income Communities on What Children Need to Thrive within the First 1000 Days of Life

Abstract

The first 1000 days is recognised as a critical period for the development of children. What children need to thrive in this particular phase of development may be different from any other phase. In South Africa, parents’ perception of children’s needs within the first 1000 days of life could be considered as emerging. Therefore, this study aims to explore the perspectives of South African parents and primary caregivers on what children need to thrive within the first 1000 days. An exploratory qualitative study design was used to explore the parents’ understanding of what children need to thrive in the first 1000 days. A purposive sampling approach was employed to select parents and primary caregivers in low-income communities. In all, thirty respondents participated in the study. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. During the analysis, four themes emerged. The themes included (1) the importance of parenting, care and support; (2) children’s need for holistic development; (3) parental roles; and (4) sharing responsibilities. Parents and primary caregivers living in low-income communities understand what children need to thrive within the first thousand days of life. The study could assist policymakers and service providers to design appropriate interventions for parents within these communities.

Caregiver perspectives of risk and protective factors influencing early childhood development in low‐income, urban settings: A social ecological perspective

“…In spite of all these challenges, it is apparent that the caregivers in this study have made a significant effort to provide nurturing care and hence promote factors that are protective for early childhood development, which aligns with similar studies in South Africa (Adebiyi et al, 2021) and Ghana (Wolf, 2020). Other protective factors, namely caregivers' sense of responsibility to provide for and protect their children, often at their own expense, and their resourcefulness were also noteworthy, given their resource challenges, as well as possibly challenges with dysfunctional relationships and their own mental health.…”

How South African Families Protected Themselves during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

“…Moreover, parents play their parenting roles by instructing children (who may not understand the need) to follow non-pharmaceutical interventions to protect themselves. This is why parents are important as teachers to instruct and guide their children [72].…”

Navigating relationship dynamics, pregnancy and fatherhood in the Bukhali trial: a qualitative study with men in Soweto, South Africa

“…"It was as I'm saying like lack of communication, like lack of making time because she was always busy, I was always busy like you know." (9) "challenges that I have faced is that [name] would feel left out or lonely in a way because she would call at work during the day while I'm at work and she would cry, I don't know if she was frustrated by the fact that the baby is also crying and she can't make her stop crying or if she was feeling like her life is over in a way." (15) "I have friends, like they have kids so I always ask them about whether am I doing it right, is there something wrong that I'm doing you know."…”

“…It is a 50/50 thing me sometimes I make it 60/40 thing you know because sometimes I feel that she is tired she has got stretched you know she has had enough you understand, she has been carrying my son for 9 months man, like that is the least that I can do change nappies." (9) "when she goes to the clinic uh like I used to get into the queue for her like early in the morning and then she'd join the queue during the day when I had already been in the queue, and just give her support for whatever she wants." (13) It was evident from some participants' comments that there had been changes in the social and/or cultural expectations of fathers.…”

“…4 Although the role of fathers is not always clear, and norms around interactions with their children can be complicated and inconsistent in South Africa, 5 the importance of involvement of fathers in their children's lives from an early age, starting in pregnancy, has been highlighted, including for maternal mental health, 8 and notably in low-income communities. 9 However, there are few published health interventions involving fathers in South Africa. [10][11][12][13] There appear to be some positive shifts in the narrative in South Africa about father involvement and traditionally gendered caregiving roles; [4][5][6]14 this has been observed in other African countries as well.…”