Mothers' perceptions on and learning from infant and young child-feeding videos displayed in Mother and Child Health Centers in Kenya: a qualitative and quantitative approach.

Objective: The objective was to explore mothers’ perceptions on educational videos on infant and young child-feeding practices, and to assess whether viewing frequencies would influence maternal knowledge, attitudes and feeding practices (KAP).

Design: A set of forty-seven videos were displayed in health centres for 6 months. At 3 months, we conducted focus group discussions (FGD) with mothers and, at 6 months, administered KAP-questionnaire-based interviews to mothers. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared groups according to video viewing frequencies.

Setting: The study was conducted in a slum in Nairobi and a rural area in Machakos, Kenya. We installed TV screens in waiting rooms of six Mother and Child Health Centers, where mothers could choose to watch them.

Participants: Forty-three mothers with children aged 0–48 months participated in six FGD and 547 mothers of children aged 0–23 months in KAP interviews.

Results: The mothers from the FGD found the videos acceptable and beneficial. Videos enhanced mothers’ learning and empowered them to support others in learning. The KAP data showed that after adjustments, breast-feeding (P = 0·06), complementary feeding knowledge (P = 0·01), complementary feeding attitudes (P = 0·08) and hygiene knowledge and practices (P = 0·003) were better among mothers who had seen videos three to four times, or five or more times, compared with mothers who had seen the videos once or twice.

Conclusions: Videos were an accepted form of education and were beneficial when watched repeatedly. The videos could be a good addition to current infant and young child-feeding education efforts in Kenya.