Study population and sampling procedures
This study was conducted between December 2016 and October 2017 as part of a larger qualitative longitudinal study that aimed to explore actual breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices as well as the factors that impede the WHO recommended practices from birth to one year of a child’s life. The study details have been published elsewhere [15, 16].
Briefly, pregnant women in their last trimester of pregnancy who came for prenatal care at 2 governmental health centers, Buramba and Rutobwe, from Muhanga district were contacted. They were approached by trained research assistants who provided detailed description of the study and those who agreed to participate signed the informed consents. Recruitment ceased after enrolling 39 women who came first as data saturation had been reached. The inclusion criteria for the study were:1) being pregnant in the last trimester with no serious obstetrical condition, 2) planning to give birth in the local health center and reside in the area within the first 12 months of child’s life 3) and willing to be observed during 3 child feeding occasions that are at 6, 9 and 12 months postpartum). The present study focus on a purposive sample of 29 mothers who completed the follow-up from birth to one year of child’s life and whose data was available for both the interviews and mealtime observations.