الفهرس 
Chapter 1 : IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Aim of study
Aim of the study is to investigate the effect of health guidelines on mothers’ awareness regarding weaning practices.
Sample
A purposive sample of 80 mothers was used who fulfilled the following criteria was selected:
Inclusion criteria:
• Newly lactated mothers having infant aged six months.
• Infants depend on breast, artificial or combined feeding.
Exclusion criteria:
• Infant with chronic illness as bronchial asthma.
• Infant with congenital anomalies as cleft palate.
Data collection instruments: The data collection tools consisted of three main parts as following :
1. Socio-demographic questionnaire . It consisted of the following:
Part 1: Demographic data of the mother involved ten questions related to personal data of mothers, including (age, level of education of both mother and father, place of residence, occupation, income of family, source of information, type of family, telephone number, and address).
Part 2: An interviewing questionnaire of mother’s awareness related to weaning. It consisted of three parts.
A) Mother’s knowledge questionnaire. It was adopted from Ezenduka et al., 2018 it was used to evaluate the mother’s knowledge; it included seven questions about the weaning process such as definition, importance, principles, schedule, food weaning types, time of starting weaning, weaning infants complain, timing, etc..…...
B) Mother’s attitude questionnaire . It is adopted from (Ezenduka et al, 2018). It was used to evaluate attitudes toward weaning practices by assessing their tendency to respond positively or negatively toward the applying available knowledge.
C) Mothers’ weaning practices questionnaire (as reported by mothers). It was adopted from (Alipoor Zahra et al., 2020). It was used to evaluate weaning practices; it contained 20 questions, such as the technique of weaning, weaning challenges, sequence of weaning, and weaning fault practices.
Data collection procedures:
The current study was achieved through three phases: the assessment phase (pretest), the implementation phase (conducting health guidelines), and the evaluation phase (post-test).
1. Assessment phase (pre-test)
Before conducting the study, an official permit was obtained from the directors of MCHs, after explaining the study’s aim and nature. The investigator introduced her self to the mothers of infants who fulfilled the study criteria. The researcher obtained oral consent from the mothers of infants. Each mother who fulfilled the deter mind criteria was interviewed individually (35 mothers) or in a selected group (45mothers).
2. Implementation phase (conducting health guidelines)
The investigator prepared health guidelines in the Arabic language obtained after an extensive literature review. The investigator explained health guidelines about appropriate weaning practices accompanied to the mothers using power point and a colorful booklet as a handout for them. The purpose of health guidelines is to support optimum infant nutrition by providing a review of the evidence and clear guidance on infant feeding for factors affecting human behaviors (WHO, 2012).
3. Evaluation phase:
The pre-test phase represented the baseline of the findings at the age of six months, and the post-test was done after three consecutive months at nine months of age after the vaccination session of the Sabin vaccine. The missed mothers were followed through home visits.
The main findings of the present study were the following:
- More than half (53.7%) of the studied mothers had 25-29 years old. Moreover, near half (47.5%) of them have secondary education. Regarding the place of residence, more than half (57.5%) of them live in rural areas, and more than half (72.5%) are housewives. Also, more than half ( 65%) have a middle income. Regarding the type of feeding, nearly more than one quarter (27% ) give Breast & Artificial feeding. Regarding the causes of artificial feeding more than half ( 68.8%) were due to dried milk ,on the other hand, only (1.3%)were due to infant anomalies as cleft palate.
- Half of the participant mothers (51%) have information about weaning from parents, mothers, and/or sister-in-law; only the minority (5%) obtain their information from health care workers.
- More than half (48%) of the studied mothers who had a good knowledge level before implementing health guidelines improved to almost (98%) of them after implementing health guidelines regarding weaning.
- The vast majority (93%) of the participant mothers had a positive attitude before implementing health guidelines turned to the most(97%) after implementing health guidelines regarding weaning
- The majority (90%) of the participant mothers had good practices before implementing health guidelines and improved most of (98%) them after implementing health guidelines regarding weaning.
Conclusion
Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that:
Nearly half (47.5%) of the newly lactated mothers have secondary education, and more than half (53.7%) are aged between 25 – 29 years. More than two-fifth (48%) of the newly lactated mothers who had good knowledge levels before implementing health guidelines improved to almost them (98%) after implementing health guidelines, and the vast majority ( 93%)of the newly lactated mothers who had positive attitudes before implementing health guidelines turned to the most (97%) after implementing health guidelines.
Also, the majority (90%) of the participant mothers had good practices before implementing health guidelines and improved most of (98%) them after implementing health guidelines. Newly lactated mothers’ awareness was improved after implementing health guidelines about weaning which may indicate the effectiveness of these guidelines on improving their knowledge, attitude, and practices.
Recommendation
Based on the results of the present study, the following can be recommended for mothers:
• Improve Public awareness about the practical guidelines during the weaning process using mass media
• Specify formal health websites for educating mothers about healthful weaning practices. Breastfeeding should continue throughout the first year of life and into the second year.
Recommended for nurses:
• Educating the mothers about practical guidelines during the weaning process and the effect of faulty weaning on different health occasions at mothers’ visits
• Conduct different in–service educational programs for the maternal child health centers ( nurses) regarding the importance of health education to prevent malnutrition among children.