All of the mothers were in strong agreement that they felt well prepared to start giving their infant solids and that participating in the HKP helped them feel prepared. As seen in Table 8 and Figure 3 above the results of the MKS and IFSQ showed that three out of the four mothers increased their knowledge on infant feeding and the introduction of complementary foods by 5-16% after participating in the HKP. The other mother had no change to her total score on the MKS and a slight decrease of 1.75% in her total score on the IFSQ. Despite these quantitative results this mother expressed that the HKP programme taught her how to know when to start solids, what to offer and resulted in her delaying the introduction of complementary foods to her infant. All of the mothers recognised that participating in the HKP contributed to them feeling prepared and confident to introduce complementary foods to their infants.
All the mothers identified that they enjoyed and found the practical activities within the programme beneficial. They reported that the tasks they participated in during the HKP were things that they remembered and were able to utilise when making complementary foods for their infant in real life.
The mothers generally agreed that the content covered in the HKP aligned reasonably well with their families’ values. One of the mothers reported while her values predominately aligned with the HKP she felt that she had more of a natural health approach and therefore, made some infant feeding decisions that reflected this approach for example opting for homemade vegetable purees rather than offering her infant baby rice. They agreed that generally the principles and content of the HKP aligned well with their family values.
The majority of mothers reported that after they completed the HKP they felt like they were more aware of their own and other infants hunger and fullness cues. As seen in the results from the RIFCS the mothers in this study were all found to be moderately, fairly or highly responsive to their infants’ cues in the pre-treatment infant feeding videos. Three out four of
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the mothers mentioned that education on infant feeding cues specifically helped them identify and respond more appropriately to not only their own infant’s but other infants feeding cues. 4.6.2. Behavioural Factors
Collectively the participants felt that they had sufficient access to social supports and felt well supported by extended family and friendship networks throughout the HKP programme. Several mothers described ways in which they shared the information they learnt in the HKP with others in their social networks. Two mothers commented on the fact that they had shared some of the information they had learnt in the HKP with others most commonly family members or those in their coffee groups. All of the mothers expressed that they felt well supported by their families regarding their infant feeding decisions.
4.6.3. Social factors
Participants agreed that there is a lot of misleading or conflicting information about the introduction of complementary foods to infants. Most of the mothers reported having multiple sources of information about introducing complementary foods, not just what they learnt through the HKP. Three of the four mothers reported that older family members had discussed or suggested that they offer their infant complementary foods before their infant reached six months old. Despite these recommendations the mothers in the programme reported that they did not feel pressured to start giving their infant complementary foods before they were ready. They also felt confident to decline purees if they were offered by these family members. Most of the mothers in the HKP were exposed to multiple sources of information about introducing complementary foods to infants.
Some of the mothers who participated in the HKP also participated in the current complementary feeding workshops provided to new mothers by Plunket. The mothers who completed both the HKP and attended the Plunket workshops reported they felt as though the Plunket workshops only provided a brief overview of the process of introducing complementary foods to infants. They felt it was not in depth enough and left other mothers in a position
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where they need to seek further information elsewhere. They felt that the HKP covered a lot more information and allowed them to learn more effectively due to the inclusion of practical activities. Some of the mothers specified that the HKP taught them more than just about the introduction of complementary foods to their infants. They found the lessons on their infants’ personality and feeding cues valuable and specified that these topics are not discussed elsewhere by other services available to new parents.
Two of the mothers identified that they felt it would have been good to have some ongoing support after the HKP. One mother detailed feeling confident regarding where to start but unsure about when to progress through textures. Another mother outlined concerns regarding having questions in the future and no one to ask. According to the mothers the HKP provided appropriate support and information which enabled them to feel confident about starting to introduce complementary foods with their infant. However, the process of introducing complementary foods is carried out over number of months and these mothers suggested that having someone they could contact with questions would further increase their self-confidence throughout this transition.
4.6.4. Environmental factors
The mothers were in agreement that having the intervention sessions completed within their home made it more straightforward to engage with the HKP and less demanding in terms of time and organisation. Two of the mothers reflected that having the HKP intervention sessions within their home enabled their husband to participate in the programme as well. The most significant disparity between the mothers who participated in the HKP was around the length of the programme. Two mothers felt that the length of the programme was appropriate while the other two reported that they felt it was too long.
Two mothers suggested that they felt the HKP might be suitable to be run in small groups such as delivering to their coffee groups. They reported feeling completing the HKP in a small group setting could be beneficial due to the increased capacity to learn from each other and learn about common misconceptions together.
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