Influence of Maternal Beliefs, Attitude, Perceived Behavior on Breast-Feeding among Post Partum Mothers in Western Kenya

Abstract

Great efforts have been made to enhance breast-feeding among mothers of infants, yet there is a continued decline in breast-feeding behavior. The Theory of Planned Behavior emphasizes that human behavior is governed by personal attitudes, social pressures and a sense of control. A study was set up to assess the influence of maternal beliefs, attitude, intention and perceived behavior control on breast-feeding behavior of mothers aged between 18-40 years of infants (< 1 year old) in western Kenya based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A total sample of 230 breast-feeding mothers attending post natal clinics were randomly selected and were the respondents who provided information on the selected variables of the study. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess reliability and exploratory factor analysis used to assess validity. Skewness and kurtosis were used to assess for the normality of the obtained data. Structural equation modeling (AMOS version 7) was used to determine the predictive power of maternal attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on breast-feeding behavior. Maternal attitude ($ = 0.38, p<0.01), perceived behavioral control ($ = 0.35, p<0.01) and subjective norm ($ = 0.25, p<0.001) predicted the mother’s intention to breast-feed. Intention ($ = 0.95, p<0.001) was a strong predictor of breast-feeding behavior.