Perinatal care and breastfeeding education during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from Kenyan mothers and healthcare workers.

ABSTRACT: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breastfeeding (BF) practices in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is not well understood. Modifications in BF guidelines and delivery platforms for breastfeeding education during the COVID-19 pandemic are hypothesised to have affected BF practices. We aimed to understand the experiences with perinatal care, BF education and practice among Kenyan mothers who delivered infants during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted in-depth key informant interviews with 45 mothers who delivered infants between March 2020 and December 2021, and 26 health care workers (HCW) from four health facilities in Naivasha, Kenya. While mothers noted that HCWs provided quality care and BF counselling, individual BF counselling was cited to be less frequent than before th

SUBMITTER: Ickes SB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10483952 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature