From grandmother to first-time mother: A qualitative study of prenatal and postnatal maternal socialization in Lusaka, Zambia

ABSTRACT

Little is known about how grandparents influence childcare and mothering practices in developing countries. This is against the backdrop of literature that has documented that when young women become mothers, they receive extensive support and guidance on how to parent their babies from grandparents. This study explored how grandmothers in Lusaka, Zambia, shaped the mothering practices of first-time mothers.The study used an exploratory qualitative descriptive research design. Thirty grandmothers were interviewed independently using a semi-structured interview guide. Results highlighted a wide variation of teachings in the pre-and post-natal phase. At prenatal, Teachings before childbirth was the main theme, with the sub-themes preparing for labor and preserving pregnancy. While at postnatal, teachings after child’s birth emerged as the primary theme with sub-themes, caring for the newborn and keeping the baby safe. Grandmother teachings were essential for keeping mother and baby healthy during prenatal and postnatal. Grandmother teachings in both prenatal and postnatal phases were found significant in ensuring the mother and the baby are healthy. These findings underscore the need to involve grandmothers in health programming and interventions to improve maternal and infant health in Zambia.

Abbreviations: HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus; WHO: World Health Organization.

KEYWORDS:

• First-time
• mother
• grandmother
• childcare
• prenatal
• postnatal

Authors’ contributions

CK is the Principal Investigator and responsible for data collection, analysis, and drafting the manuscript. KCN contributed to discussion and critically reviewing of the manuscript. FS contributed to tool development, critically reviewed and revised the manuscript, and is the corresponding author. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due [restrictions by the Research and Ethics Committee at University of Zambia to protect the participants’ privacy] but are available from the Principal Investigator (Chishimba Kaluba) on reasonable request.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from the research ethics committee of the affiliated university of the principal investigator. In addition, all methods were performed in accordance with the ethical guidelines and regulations for research among human subjects following the Helsinki Declaration (53). The interviewees were anonymous and no personal identification data were collected. The participants actively gave informed consent once they chose to proceed with the interview.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).