Kangaroo Mother Care: Awareness on and Intention to Adopt Among Antenatal Women of Gat Andres Bonifacio Medical Center

Abstract

The study aimed to determine how aware antenatal women of Gat Andres Bonifacio Medical Center are about KMC and their intention to adopt the child care intervention after the information has been properly communicated to them. Drawing on the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, Strecher, & Becker, 1988), this study investigated the awareness of antenatal women on Kangaroo Mother Care through survey research design. Participants involved 40 antenatal women present at the Gat Andres Bonifacio Medical Center of Tondo were selected based on convenience sampling. Data included participants self-reported data and were analyzed using descriptive statistics through frequency counts. Results showed that more than half of the respondents were aware of KMC and were learned through flyers and relatives. It was also noted that educational attainment influenced the better understanding of KMC. In terms of parity, the first-time mothers were most likely to adopt KMC. Perception on KMC revealed that respondents were not familiar with it, hence the less understanding of its concept. Finally, despite the misconception, participants expressed their interest in adopting KMC. It is concluded that lecture and workshop is needed to better understand KMC and its benefits. The paper recommends that KMC should be continued as this will bring trust and keep awareness among mothers.