INDIGENOUS NEWBORN CARE PRACTICES AMONG PRIMIPAROUS MOTHERS IN THE EAST MAMPRUSI DISTRICT, GHANA.

ABSTRACT

Most often, newborns are considered to be a source of joy to the family especially their mothers. However, the survival of these babies depends on the kind of care they receive. Therefore, mothers try as much as possible to provide the best of care for their babies and the cultural beliefs and practices of the mothers play a vital role in shaping child care attitudes. The Theory of Planned Behaviour guided this study to explore indigenous newborn care (INC) practices among primiparous mothers in Northern Ghana. The aim of the study was to explore the indigenous newborn care practices of primiparous mothers in the East Mamprusi Municipality, Ghana. An exploratory descriptive qualitative design was employed for the study. Twelve (12) primiparous mothers were purposively sampled from the East Mamprusi District to participant in the study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide to collect data from participants. Thematic content analysis was done after all interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Seven major themes emerged from the data which included: identified INC practices, attitude of primiparous mothers towards INC practices, cultural beliefs (significant others) of primiparous mothers on INC practices, intentions of primiparous mothers about INC practices, behaviour of primiparous mothers towards INC practices and knowledge deficit about essential newborn care. The findings of the study established that primiparous mothers held several beliefs which are categorized as beliefs before the birth of newborns and beliefs after the birth of newborns. These findings suggest that INC practices are deeply rooted in the care of newborns which are difficult to avoid due to cultural beliefs. The findings of this study have implication for nursing practice and future research.