Provision of neonatal care: An African indigenous perspective

Abstract

Peer review declarationThe publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript underwent an evaluation to compare the level of originality with other published works and was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review before publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the editor(s) or author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher, editor(s) and author(s). The publisher shared feedback on the similarity report and the reviewers' inputs with the manuscript's editor(s) or author(s) to improve the manuscript. Where the reviewers recommended revision and improvements, editor(s) or author(s) responded adequately to such recommendations. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the book be published.

Sociocultural context of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa: A narrative review

“…There is also a cultural belief that eating snails while BF will make the infants salivate 33 . Mothers in Ghana shared the belief that the baby being fussy, not sleeping well and not lasting long between feeds, are evidence that BM is watery and insufficient, hence infants are fed BM mixed with honey and some give a mixture of water and shea butter and herbs to make baby sleep longer 34 . In Limpopo, it is believed that babies exclusively breastfed may experience colic, leading to excessive crying and fever 34 .…”

“… 33 Mothers in Ghana shared the belief that the baby being fussy, not sleeping well and not lasting long between feeds, are evidence that BM is watery and insufficient, hence infants are fed BM mixed with honey and some give a mixture of water and shea butter and herbs to make baby sleep longer. 34 In Limpopo, it is believed that babies exclusively breastfed may experience colic, leading to excessive crying and fever. 34 While in Niger‐Delta, grandmothers hold the belief that newborns require sufficient water daily due to the hot weather, and they perceive BM as inadequate for quenching thirst.…”

“… 34 In Limpopo, it is believed that babies exclusively breastfed may experience colic, leading to excessive crying and fever. 34 While in Niger‐Delta, grandmothers hold the belief that newborns require sufficient water daily due to the hot weather, and they perceive BM as inadequate for quenching thirst. Consequently, they offer water to the babies after BF to fulfill their hydration needs.…”