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Fulltext Working mothers' breastfeeding experience: a phenomenology qualitative approach

Ahmad RS, Sulaiman Z, Nik Hussain NH, Mohd Noor N

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 2022 Jan 31;22(1):85.
PMID: 35100980 DOI: 10.1186/s12884-021-04304-4

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding practice is influenced by the mother's attitude toward and knowledge of breastfeeding. Working mothers face many challenges and need support to maintain breastfeeding. This study aimed to explore working mothers' breastfeeding experiences and challenges that can influenced their practices.
METHODS: The qualitative phenomenological approach involving working mothers in Kota Bharu who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and consented to participate in the study were recruited using purposive sampling. Sixteen participants aged 24 to 46 years were interviewed using semi-structured in-depth interviews in the study. All interviews were recorded in digital audio, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis.
FINDINGS: Three main themes emerged from the data analysis: perception of breastfeeding, challenges in breastfeeding, and support for breastfeeding. Two subthemes for perceptions were perception towards breastfeeding and towards infant formula. Challenges had two subthemes too which were related to perceived insufficient milk and breastfeeding difficulty. Where else, two subthemes for support were internal support (spouse and family) and external support (friends, employer, and healthcare staff).
CONCLUSIONS: Maintaining breastfeeding after return to work is challenging for working mothers and majority of them need support to continue breastfeeding practice. Support from their spouses and families' influences working mothers' decision to breastfeed. Employers play a role in providing a support system and facilities in the workplace for mothers to express and store breast milk. Both internal and external support are essential for mothers to overcome challenges in order to achieve success in breastfeeding.

Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working/psychology*
Fulltext Work-family conflict, work- and family-role salience, and women's well-being

Noor NM

J Soc Psychol, 2004 Aug;144(4):389-405.
PMID: 15279329 DOI: 10.3200/SOCP.144.4.389-406

The author considered both the direct effect and the moderator effect of role salience in the stress-strain relationship. In contrast to previous studies that have examined the effects of salience on well-being within specific social roles, the present study focused on the work-family interface. From a sample of 147 employed English women with children, the present results of the regression analyses showed that both effects are possible, depending on the outcome measures used. The author observed a direct effect of role salience in the prediction of job satisfaction; work salience was positively related to job satisfaction, over and above the main-effect terms of work-interfering-with-family (WIF) conflict and family-interfering-with-work (FIW) conflict. In contrast, the author found a moderator effect of role salience and conflict for symptoms of psychological distress. However, contrary to predictions, the author found that work salience exacerbated the negative impact of WIF conflict, rather than FIW conflict, on well-being. The author discussed these results in relation to the literature on work-family conflict, role salience, and the issue of stress-strain specificity.

Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working/psychology*
Fulltext Work-family conflict among married professional women in Malaysia

Ahmad A

J Soc Psychol, 1996 Oct;136(5):663-5.
PMID: 8942323 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1996.9714054
Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working/psychology*
Fulltext Work related determinants of breastfeeding discontinuation among employed mothers in Malaysia

Amin RM, Said ZM, Sutan R, Shah SA, Darus A, Shamsuddin K

Int Breastfeed J, 2011;6(1):4.
PMID: 21342506 DOI: 10.1186/1746-4358-6-4

This cross-sectional study assesses factors that contribute to discontinuing breastfeeding among employed mothers in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Women
Fulltext Work engagement among breast cancer survivors: are they less engaged in their work?

Zoharah Omar, Roohangiz Karimi, Nor Azida Nayan, Najwa Haneem Mohamad, Nor Aina Emran

Int J Public Health Res, 2014;4(2):457-464.
MyJurnal

Introduction This study investigates work engagement of employed breast cancer
survivors in comparison to unmatched control samples of healthy working
women without cancer and any other chronic diseases from the general
population.

Methods A case-control study design using unmatched controls was adopted in this
study. The case comprised of 80 female breast cancer survivors who have
returned to full-time employment selected using purposive sampling
technique. Meanwhile, controls were 88 healthy female working women in
full time paid employment, selected using quota sampling. Questionnaire
covering socio-demographic characteristics and self-rated work engagement
measured using Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) was distributed to
the cancer survivors through face-to-face meeting during their hospital visits.
For the healthy controls the questionnaires were distributed using drop-andcollect
method through the human resource personnel of the participating
organization.

Results The results revealed, after controlling for age, marital status, ethnic group and
tenure with organization, no significant differences in the overall work
engagement was found between the breast cancer survivors [mean (SD) =
4.66 (0.92)] and the healthy controls [mean (SD) = 4.75 (0.85)]; F(1, 163)
=1.70. In comparison to the work engagement domains, only the Vigor
domain was found to be significantly lower for the survivors, survivors [F (1,
163) =14.94; p

Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working
Work and women's well-being: religion and age as moderators

Noor NM

J Relig Health, 2008 Dec;47(4):476-90.
PMID: 19093675

Religion has been found to moderate the stress-strain relationship. This moderator role, however, may be dependent on age. The present study tested for the three-way interaction between work experience, age, and religiosity in the prediction of women's well-being, and predicted that work experience and religiosity will combine additively in older women, while in younger women religiosity is predicted to moderate the relationship between work experience and well-being. In a sample of 389 married Malay Muslim women, results of the regression analyses showed significant three-way interactions between work experience, age, and religiosity in the prediction of well-being (measured by distress symptoms and life satisfaction). While in younger women the results were in line with the predictions made, in the older women, both additive and moderator effects of religiosity were observed, depending on the well-being measures used. These results are discussed in relation to the literature on work and family, with specific reference to women's age, religion, as well as the issue of stress-strain specificity.

Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working/psychology*
Work and lifestyle factors associated with morbidity of electronic women workers in Selangor, Malaysia

Hwei-Mian Lim, Heng-Leng Chee, Mirnalini Kandiah, Sharifah Zainiyah Syed Yahya, Rashidah Shuib

Asia Pac J Public Health, 2002;14(2):75-84.
PMID: 12862411

The objective of this study was to identify sociodemographic, work, living arrangement and lifestyle factors associated with morbidity of electronics women workers in selected factories in Selangor, Malaysia. The research design was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey. Most of the 401 respondents were young single Malay women. Morbidity was high as 85.5% of the women reported experiencing at least one chronic health problem, and 25.7% said that an illness or injury prevented them from carrying out normal activities within the last two weeks. Major acute illness symptoms were the common cold, backache, and diarrhoea while chronic health problems such as persistent headache, eye problems, menstrual problems, and persistent backache were also reported. After logistic regression, chronic health problems was significantly associated with room sharing; while illness that prevented normal activities within the last two weeks was significantly associated with overtime work and exercise. Further research is recommended to understand the complex inter-relationship between morbidity and working and living conditions.

Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working/statistics & numerical data*
Women's rights: eternal principles, changing forms

Asiaweek, 1993 Nov 17.
PMID: 12287494
Matched MeSH terms: Women*; Women's Rights*
Women's perspectives towards traditional and complementary medicine used to conceive, during pregnancy and the postpartum period

Shaukat Ali R, Gnanasan S, Farooqui M

Complement Ther Clin Pract, 2018 Feb;30:109-115.
PMID: 29389469 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.12.009

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore pregnant and postpartum women's understanding of the meaning of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) and how that may affect their T&CM use.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires. Data collected from 374 women were analysed and represented via descriptive statistics.
RESULTS: Out of the 374 participants, 285 (76.2%) reported using at least one type of T&CM to conceive, during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. The majority of the participants identified that T&CM is all about plants or natural products without chemicals or drugs (n = 267, 71.4%, p women (p = .056).
CONCLUSION: This study reveals that many women are practising T&CM when trying to conceive and during pregnancy and the postpartum period even though they are aware that there is insufficient evidence on its safety and efficacy. Therefore, further studies are needed in order to gain sufficient clinical evidence that could be used to structure better guidelines for T&CM practices and services in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Women
Women's mental health - our future direction

Nor Zuraida Z

Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 2008;17:1-2.

Globally women's mental health issues have been emphasized since many decades ago. World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the importance of justice and equality in term of social context related to gender in order to achieve good mental well-being. Gender differences in the prevalence of psychiatric disorders have been recognized long ago where women commonly exceeds the men for a number of psychiatric illnesses (1). Women are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, somatic problems and being victims of sexual or physical violence. At least 1 in 5 women suffer rape in their lifetime but the rate differ from various country (2). Much work has been done to look into the general well-being and psychological distress in women as well as to understand the reason for women become more vulnerable to stress as compared to men. Multiple factors such as biological determinants and psychosocial issues have been found to be correlated to depression. Women with chronic major depression tend to have a younger age at the onset of her illness, a more extensive family history of mood disorder, poorer social adjustment, and poorer quality of life compared to chronically depressed men (3). Women are also known to be more likely to seek help for their mental health problem from primary care physician. Furthermore, across socio-economic levels many women nowdays are doing multiple roles in the society. They are not only wives and mothers in their family, but women also go out to earn for living. Some women are holding a higher position at workplace or in any organization. These multitasking roles may cause stress to women especially if she has to handle family-work or work-family conflicts. Biological differences related to gender have been increasingly explored. Differences exist in brain anatomy and that male and female reproductive hormones i.e. estrogen and progesterone produce psychoactive effects (4). Estrogen's antidopaminergic (5) and serotonin-enhancing (6) effects may play a role in psychiatric disorders in women. These are the areas that need more research investigations.

Matched MeSH terms: Women
Women's autonomy and child survival: a comparison of Muslims and non-Muslims in four Asian countries

Ghuman SJ

Demography, 2003 Aug;40(3):419-36.
PMID: 12962056 DOI: 10.1353/dem.2003.0021

In this article, I evaluate the hypothesis that higher infant and child mortality among Muslim populations is related to the lower autonomy of Muslim women using data from 15 pairs of Muslim and non-Muslim communities in India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Women's autonomy in various spheres is not consistently lower in Muslim than in non-Muslim settings. Both across and within communities, the association between women's autonomy and mortality is weak, and measures of autonomy or socioeconomic status are generally of limited import for understanding the Muslim disadvantage in children's survival.

Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working/statistics & numerical data
Women's Attitude and Its Influence on Violence During Pregnancy in Northern State of Peninsular Malaysia: Cross-Sectional Study

Haron K, Shaffie Z, Ghazi HF, Isa ZM

J Interpers Violence, 2021 03;36(5-6):NP2576-NP2600.
PMID: 29624110 DOI: 10.1177/0886260518759059

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of men's violence against pregnant women and whether it is influenced by women's attitude. A cross-sectional study was carried out in a hospital in northern state of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 1,200 postnatal women aged 18 years and above who had been admitted to the hospital were recruited in the study. Universal sampling was performed, and participants were interviewed face-to-face by using a validated Malay version of WHO Women's Health and Life Experiences Questionnaire. The main outcome measures in the study were emotional, physical or sexual violence. The study results showed that more than one third of women (35.9%; confidence interval [CI] = [0.33, 0.39]) had experienced any type of violence during pregnancy with the commonest was psychological violence (29.8%; CI = [0.27, 0.32]) followed by physical (12.9%; CI = [0.11, 0.15]) and sexual violence (9.8%; CI = [0.08, 0.12]). Women who were drug users, had an exposure to violence during childhood, had higher parity, and had inadequate antenatal care were at greater risk. Agree that husband is justified to hit his wife in certain conditions and agree that women has a right to refuse sex in certain conditions were among violence-supporting attitudes. It can be concluded that men's violence against pregnant women is extremely prevalent. Sensitive assessment, attitude modification, and intervention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) are of great value in combating men's violence against pregnant women.

Matched MeSH terms: Pregnant Women
Women in development

White EH

Aisa Found News, 1980 May-Jun.
PMID: 12261905
Matched MeSH terms: Women; Women's Rights*
Why women commit filicide: opinions of health, social work, education and policy professionals in Malaysia

Razali S, Kirkman M, Fisher J

Child Abuse Review, 2020;29:73-84.
DOI: 10.1002/car.2573

Although filicide is discussed with concern in the print media and online in Malaysia, there is little empirical evidence about its aetiology or appropriate responses. We sought to elucidate the opinions of health, social work, education and policy professionals in Malaysia on the causes of, and solutions to, filicide. Fifteen informants participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Informants attributed responsibility for filicide to girls and women as a consequence of their failure to comply with social norms and religious teachings; the stigmatised social position of women who are pregnant and unmarried was identified as a contributing factor. No informant mentioned the impact of gender-based violence, including sexual violence against girls and women. Informants' views reflect the dominant discourse of filicide in Malaysia, which is that it results from women's failure to adhere to Malaysian norms of morality, religion, customs and traditions. Solutions were largely directed at changing the behaviour of girls and women. Given the disparities between the public discourse and evidence of the experiences of women convicted of filicide, interventions that promote social change might be more effective than strategies targeting women. ‘We sought to elucidate the opinions of health, social work, education and policy professionals in Malaysia on the causes of, and solutions to, filicide’. ‘Filicide is generally agreed to denote the crime of a parent killing her or his child aged up to 18 years’. Key Practitioner Messages: There are adverse consequences for children and women in Malaysia when responsibility for child safety is placed on individual women and not referred to a society structured on strict gender roles and masculine power. Practitioners in Malaysia would benefit from international support to understand the effects of marginalised women's experiences. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Matched MeSH terms: Women
Fulltext Weight loss practice using physical activity among working women in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Sena Abdullah Abdul Jabbar Al-Qalah, Hasanain Faisal Ghazi, Zaleha Md.Isa, Norimah A. Karim

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2014;14(3):0-0.
MyJurnal

An increase in physical activity is a key component for effective weight loss. It helps to control weight loss by using excess calories as well as boosting metabolism and lowering insulin levels. Physical activity also helps prevent many chronic diseases and improve the overall human health. The objective of this study was to assess weight loss practice using physical activity strategies among working women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A total of 639 adult Malaysian working women were screened and 120 respondents were identified based on their experience of losing at least 10% of their highest lifetime body weight, which is a criterion for successful weight-loss. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from 120 successful weight loss respondents. Physical activity was measured by using International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short version. Results showed that 35.8% of women had low physical activity level; slightly above than one third of women (38.3%) had moderate activity level, while 25.8% women had high physical activity level.The most common physical activity monitoring strategies implemented were exercise at least 30 minutes per day (22.5%) and incorporate physical activity into daily life (21.7%). A total of 70.8% women regained weight after significant weight loss. A total of 40.0% who regained weight as compared to 25.7% of those who did not regain weight were physically inactive (p=0.138). There was no statistically significant different in daily sitting time between the two groups (p=0.627). As a conclusion, government working women in Kuala Lumpur have low to moderate physical activity levels. Majority women regained weight after significant weight loss. Common strategies to lose weight are exercise at least 30 minutes per day and incorporate physical activity into daily life. More education and promotion regarding the importance of physical activity should be done to all community members especially to the government working women.

Matched MeSH terms: Women, Working
Fulltext Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and its associated factors among third trimester Malaysian pregnant women

Woon FC, Chin YS, Ismail IH, Batterham M, Abdul Latiff AH, Gan WY, et al.

PLoS One, 2019;14(6):e0216439.
PMID: 31233513 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216439

BACKGROUND: Despite perennial sunshine, vitamin D deficiency is prevalent among Malaysians especially pregnant women. This study determines the vitamin D status and its associated factors among third trimester pregnant women attending government health clinics in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

METHODS: Information on socio-demographic characteristics, obstetrical history, and sun exposure were obtained through face-to-face interviews. Vitamin D intake was assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was measured and classified as deficient (< 30 nmol/L), insufficient (30-50 nmol/L), and sufficient (≥ 50 nmol/L).

RESULTS: Of the 535 pregnant women recruited, 42.6% were vitamin D deficient. They consumed an average of 8.7 ± 6.7 μg of vitamin D daily. A total of 80.4% of the vitamin D were obtained from the food sources, while 19.6% were from dietary supplements. Fish and fish products showed the highest contribution to vitamin D intake (35.8%). The multivariable generalized linear mixed models, with clinic as a random effect, indicates that higher intake of vitamin D is associated with lower odds of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.93-0.99). The odds of having vitamin D deficiency was reduced by 87% in non-Malays (OR = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.05-0.41) compared to Malays. No associations were found between age, educational level, monthly household income, work status, gravidity, parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index, total hours of sun exposure, total percentage of body surface area, and sun exposure index per day with vitamin D deficiency.

CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent among Malaysian pregnant women. Considering the possible adverse obstetric and fetal outcomes of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, future nutrition education should emphasise on vitamin D-fortified foods consumption among pregnant women by taking into consideration ethnic differences.

Matched MeSH terms: Women
Violence against women

United Nations. Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs. Division for the Advancement of Women

Women 2000, 1992.
PMID: 12349397
Matched MeSH terms: Women*
Fulltext Validation of the questionnaire "Pregnancy Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (pVHS)" toward COVID-19 vaccine for Malaysian pregnant women

Che Mood NA, Mat Yudin Z, Ahmad WMAW, Abdul Kadir A, Norhayati MN, Md Nawawi NH, et al.

PeerJ, 2024;12:e17134.
PMID: 38549778 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17134

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is one of the risks for severe COVID-19 infection, and receiving a vaccination is one of the effective methods to reduce disease severity. However, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women remains an issue. This study aims to develop and validate the pregnancy Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (pVHS) toward COVID-19 vaccine for Malaysian pregnant women.
METHOD: An 8-item Malay language pregnancy Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (pVHS-M) for COVID-19 was adapted from the adult Vaccine Hesitancy Scale and validated using Exploratory Factor Analysis. Six expert panels were involved in content validity, and ten pregnant women were involved in face validity. A cross-sectional study on 200 pregnant women was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan.
RESULT: The item-level content validity index is 1.00, demonstrating good relevance of the eight items used to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The item-level face validity index obtained is 0.99, indicating that the items were clear and comprehensible. The Cronbach alpha score was 0.944, with factor loadings ranging from 0.79 to 0.89.
CONCLUSION: The pVHS-M demonstrated good internal consistency, indicating that it is a valid and reliable tool for assessing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women.

Matched MeSH terms: Pregnant Women
Vaccine hesitancy towards childhood immunisation amongst urban pregnant mothers in Malaysia

Kalok A, Loh SYE, Chew KT, Abdul Aziz NH, Shah SA, Ahmad S, et al.

Vaccine, 2020 02 24;38(9):2183-2189.
PMID: 32001070 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.01.043

BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy is a complex behaviour which involves various degrees of indecision about specific vaccines or vaccination uptake. Access to antenatal care had been associated with positive vaccine behavior.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy towards childhood immunisation amongst urban pregnant mothers and the associated socio-demographic factors.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1081 women who received antenatal care at a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur. Vaccine hesitancy was assessed using the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) Survey in both English and validated Malay versions. The sociodemographic data of the mothers and their partners, source of vaccine information and reasons for hesitancy were analysed.
RESULTS: Eighty-six (8.0%) pregnant mothers were vaccine hesitant. Ethnicity, religion, number of children, educational level and employment status were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy. Multivariable analysis showed that a low level of education was the most significant risk factor (p women were more likely to seek information from health professionals, and health books and magazine. Fear of adverse side effects of vaccines was the predominant concern for all participants (58%) whilst fear of vaccination pain, preference for alternative medicine and lack of trust in the pharmaceutical industry were significant reasons given by the vaccine hesitant group. Partners' ethnicity, a low educational level and a low income were significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy amongst pregnant mothers.
CONCLUSION: Prevalence of vaccine hesitancy amongst urban Malaysian pregnant women was relatively low. Muslim mothers are less likely to be vaccine hesitant. Educational level of mothers and their partners are the common determinant of vaccine hesitancy amongst antenatal mothers.

Matched MeSH terms: Pregnant Women/psychology*
Fulltext Use, Awareness, Knowledge and Beliefs of Medication During Pregnancy in Malaysia

Alani AHHDA, Hassan BAR, Suhaimi AM, Mohammed AH

Osong Public Health Res Perspect, 2020 Dec;11(6):373-379.
PMID: 33403200 DOI: 10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.6.05

Objectives: This study aimed to assess medication use in pregnant women in Malaysia by measuring use, knowledge, awareness, and beliefs about medications.
Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study involving a total of 447 pregnant women who attended the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), Malaysia. A validated, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect participant data.
Results: Most of pregnant women had taken medication during pregnancy and more than half of them (52.8%) showed a poor level of knowledge about the medication use during pregnancy. Eighty-three percent had a poor level of awareness and 56.5% had negative beliefs. Age and education level were significantly associated with the level of knowledge regarding medication use during pregnancy. Multiparous pregnant women, and pregnant women from rural areas were observed to have a higher level of awareness compared with those who lived in urban areas. Use of medication during pregnancy was determined to be significantly associated with education level, and race.
Conclusion: Although there was prevalent use of medication among pregnant women, many had negative beliefs, and insufficient knowledge and awareness about the risks of taking medication during pregnancy. Several sociodemographic characteristics were significantly associated with the use (race and education level), level of knowledge (age and education level), awareness (parity and place of residence), and beliefs (race, education level, and occupation status) towards medication use during pregnancy.

Matched MeSH terms: Pregnant Women

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