Whom can I rely on? Mothers’ approaches to support for feeding: An interview study in suburban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Omer-Salim, Amal; Persson, Lars‐Åke; Olsson, Pia

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2006.05.002

Cited by 16 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This finding corroborates results from other Tanzanian studies, 15,18 and could in part be explained by traditions, accessibility (to the informal support network), and a lack of formal postpartum followup. It is also worth noting that, as in these previous reportings, mothers in the present study experienced support from their male partners when they engaged with women's traditional work, such as infant care and household chores.…”

Section: The Vital Role Of Social Supportsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Consistent with previous studies in Tanzania, crying is mentioned as a concern 13 and is closely related to early initiation of supplementary feeding. 15 Perceived insufficient breast milk leading to frequent infant crying is the main reason for early initiation of supplementary feeding in the present study. The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.…”

Section: Infant Carementioning

confidence: 65%

“…This supports results from previous Tanzanian studies. 15,18 Notwithstanding, given the methodology we used, we are unable to claim that our participants represent typical Tanzanians. However, this finding challenges gender stereotypes, and suggests that they are not always true and cannot be generalised.…”

Section: The Vital Role Of Social Supportmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…12 Exclusive breastfeeding is rarely practised by Tanzanian mothers 14 and combining breastfeeding with different motherhood roles and employment is complex and challenging. 15,16 An increase in workload, 3 tiredness and fatigue [11][12][13]17 are reported. Sexual life after childbirth is another area of concern for new mothers, 13 fathers, 18 and midwives providing health education and counselling to new parents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research knowledge on family health during postpartum in Tanzania, including mothers', 13,15,22 fathers' 18 and care providers' 19,22,23 perspectives is increasing. Methodologically, though most of these studies were qualitative, they focused on specific aspects of postnatal care that limited an in-depth understanding of the mothers' experiences with a holistic approach.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Joy, struggle and support: Postpartum experiences of first-time mothers in a Tanzanian suburb

et al. 2011

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The first-time mothers enjoyed motherhood and the respectful status it implied. To understand and handle the infant's needs and own bodily changes were important during postpartum. The tradition of abstaining from sex up to 4 years during breastfeeding was a concern as male's faithfulness was questioned and with HIV a threat to family health. Partner relationship changed towards shared parental and household work and the man's active participation was appreciated. Support from family members and others in the neighbourhood were utilised as a resource by the mothers. In instances of uncertainties on how to handle things, their advice was typically followed. The new mothers generally had good experiences of health care during the childbearing period. However, they also experienced insufficiencies in knowledge transfer, disrespectful behaviour, and unofficial fees. KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: The mothers' perspective of postpartum revealed that they actively searched for ways to attain infants' and own health needs, and family health in general. Prolonged sexual abstinence was considered a risk for the partner having other sexual partners and contracting HIV. The mothers relied heavily on the informal support network, which sometimes meant risking family health due to misinformation and harmful practices. Health care and informal support systems should complement each other to attain adequate support for the families postpartum.

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Section: The Vital Role Of Social Supportsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Infant Carementioning

confidence: 65%

Section: The Vital Role Of Social Supportmentioning

confidence: 96%