MST-Department of Foods, Nutrition & Dietetics

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Browsing MST-Department of Foods, Nutrition & Dietetics by Author "Amoke, Lydia Achieng"

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    Breastfeeding Practices and Infant Nutrition Status (6-23 Weeks) of Post-Partum Depressed Mothers in Mama Lucy Kibaki and Mbagathi Hospitals in Nairobi City County
    (Kenyatta University, 2024-07) Amoke, Lydia Achieng
    Postpartum depression is a non-psychotic of depression that affects many mothers and particularly it affects their breastfeeding practices. Mothers with this mental condition have been reported to have poor breastfeeding habits and their infants have high under nutrition rates. Exclusive breastfeeding is associated with reduced diarrhea rates and respiratory infections. Due to the increased rate of under nutrition in the country and its association with breastfeeding practices among children under 5 years of age, it is of importance to know if these rates are contributed by women suffering from postpartum depression (PPD). This study, determined the nutrition status of infants 6-23 weeks of age born of mothers with PPD, infant breastfeeding practices of mothers with PPD, socio-demographic factors of households of mothers with PPD. Finally, the study evaluated association between PPD, breastfeeding practices and nutrition status of the infants and socio-demographic factors of households of postpartum depressed mothers. The study design was cross-sectional and conducted in Nairobi City County and particularly in Mbagathi hospital and Mama Lucy Kibaki hospital MCH clinics. A sample size of 202 mothers was used. Proportionate distribution was employed in determining the number of participants per hospital while consecutive sampling was used to select the respondents. A researcher-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on breastfeeding practices, nutrition status, maternal socio-economic factors as well as their behavior and characteristics. Height board and a weighing scale were used to collect data on the nutrition status of the infants with the help of 2 trained research assistants. The data collection period was from June to November 2021. Data was cleaned and coded before entry into SPSS. The nutrition status was analyzed using ENA for SMART. Chi-square test was used to determine the association between breastfeeding practices and nutrition status of the infants. Pearson correlations and logistical regression were used to investigate the relationship between nutrition status, breastfeeding practices, and socio-demographic characteristics. More than half of the mothers (59.6%) were between the age of 20-29 and 86.8% had at least secondary education. The level of income among 73.1% of the respondents was below Ksh. 20000 with the husband being the sole provider. Almost half of the mothers felt like social empathy from family was not enough. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding was 76.3% while 83.2% of the mothers initiated breastfeeding within the first hour after delivery Prevalence of underweight, stunting, wasting and overweight were 21.1%, 20.0%, 14.2% and 3.2% respectively.. The study found no significant association between breastfeeding practices and nutrition status of the infants chi-square p = < 0.01 for length for weight, p = 0.157 for weight for age and p = 0.125 for height for age. Exclusive breastfeeding practice had a strong negative correlation with the age of the infant r = -.341, p <0.01. Conclusively, the wasting, stunting and underweight rates were higher than the national rates. The study recommends the intervention to include screening of postpartum depression in the post-natal and child welfare clinics.