ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Small for gestational age (SGA) infants have been linked to poor growth trends and nutritional status. SGA infants that do not reach their full growth potential must be supervised by a multidisciplinary medical team. Parents devote more time, energy, and money for raising of the SGA infants. The objective of this present study is to explore the perceptions and the experiences of the mother in nurturing the small for gestational age infants in their first year of life. Method: A qualitative exploratory descriptive study via in-depth interview was conducted in the primary health clinics in urban areas in Malaysia to explore the mothers’ perceptions and experiences in SGA infant’s care. 13 SGA infant’s mothers participated in the study after the children achieved the age of one year old. Thematic analysis was conducted using software ATLAS.ti version 8. Results: The average mothers’ age in this study were 33 years old, majority was Malay ethnicity. Only one mother was a housewife and others were working mother. Four out of 13 SGA infants were born prematurely. This study found that homogenous experiences throughout the pregnancy and baby nurturing phase, perceptions on husband involvement and external supports in infant care, infant health status and health services provided, were highlighted as important contributor to infant survival. Conclusion: The importance of monitoring SGA infant growth and nutritional status have been highlighted. Maternal psychological support needs to be enhanced to ease the burden in SGA infant care. Targeted program intervention for family and community social support during postnatal and empowering mothers in nurturing their infants are crucial.
ABSTRACT
Purpose@#This study aimed to identify small for gestational age (SGA) infants' growth patterns, nutritional status, and associated factors. @*Methods@#This prospective cohort study was conducted at primary-care child health clinics in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The sample consisted of infants who fulfilled the criteria and were born in 2019. The anthropometric data of infants were assessed at birth and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. @*Results@#A total of 328 infants were analysed. In total, 27.7%(n=91) of the subjects were SGA infants, and 237 of them were not. Significant differences in the median weight-for-age and length-for-age z-scores were observed between SGA and non-SGA infants at birth, 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months. There was a significant difference between the growth patterns of SGA and non-SGA infants. Birth weight and sex significantly predicted the nutritional status(stunting and underweight) of SGA infants during their first year of life. @*Conclusion@#SGA infants can catch up to achieve normal growth during their first year of life. Even though the nutritional status of SGA infants trends worse than non-SGA infants, adequate infant birth weight monitoring and an emphasis on nutritional advice are crucial for maintaining well-being.
ABSTRACT
@#Among the main reasons for re-emergence of vaccine preventable diseases were missed or incomplete immunization schedule. The supplementary immunization activity (SIA) is an important intervention done to provide complete immunization coverage among those children. Better outcome came along with good knowledge and perception on the program. Thus, this study aims to assess the level of knowledge and perception of the mothers towards SIA program. A cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers with children ≤ 15 years old in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Data was collected by interview using the guided questionnaire consists of four sections to assess the socio demographic, socio economic, knowledge and perception regarding SIA. The questionnaire was validated for internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha 0.461 for knowledge and 0.729 for perception. A total of 105 respondents with the median age of 33 years (IQR: 28-38) with majority of them are Malays (82.9%), Muslim (83.8%), married (97.1%) and (57.1%) with 1- 2 child in the family. Half of them were from low income family (46.7%) and had secondary education level (54.3%) and were housewives (47.6%). One third of the respondents (33%) never heard about SIA before. Overall had poor knowledge (82.9%) and perception (95.2%) towards SIA. There is a significant association between the level of knowledge on SIA with household income (χ