Browsing by Author "Holla, Ruth M."

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    Factors that influence utilization of HIV breastfeeding policy among nurse/midwives at KCH Lilongwe, Malawi.
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2012-10-04) Holla, Ruth M.
    INTRODUCTION: Worldwide, 2000 infants a day are infected with HIV during child birth or via breastfeeding, (WHO, 2012). In Malawi, about 77 children get infected daily which brings up to 30,000 new infections and 25,000 deaths among children annually. The Malawi government introduced strategies under the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) to prevent MTCT of HIV to reduce its prevalence rate among children. The HIV positive women on PMTCT are advised to breastfeed their babies exclusively for 6 months, then introduce supplementary feeds from 6 month up to 2 years, according to the Malawi National HIV/AIDS policy on breastfeeding among HIV positive women. This prompted the need to explore the factors that influence utilization of the policy among nurse/midwives at KCH-Ethel Mutharika maternity wing and country wide. LITERATURE REVIEW: Literature has revealed various factors that influence utilization of HIV breastfeeding policy among nurse/midwives. Some of these factors include; mother's and nurse/midwives' individual perception on the importance of the HIV breastfeeding guidelines, knowledge on PMTCT and breastfeeding practices, women's educational level, and nurse/midwives' experience in PMTCT services. METHODOLOGY: A quantitative descriptive research design will be used where a structured questionnaire will be utilized as data collection tool and it will be administered to subjects by the researcher in an oral interview. Data will be analysed through statistical package for social scientist (SPSS). This study will be conducted at Kamuzu central hospital- Ethel Mutharika maternity wing in Lilongwe district. The subjects will be selected from antenatal, labour ward, and postnatal wards of the hospital. The subject's rights will be protected through the use of informed consent, hence the participants will be told about purpose of the study, its significance, the benefits of the study to the respondent and other people, the risks if any, voluntary participation in the study as well as their rights to withdraw at any time without them being penalized so as to obtain the informed consent from them. CONCLUSION: If the nurse/midwives have good knowledge and experience on the HIV breastfeeding policy which is under PMTCT, many babies born to HIV positive mothers will be able to escape the risk of acquiring the HIV from their mothers. Therefore, this study will help to fill in the gaps on factors that influence the utilization of this policy thereby improving midwifery services country.