Perceived Maternal Role Competence among Mothers of Infant Residing in Pokhara, Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: Childbirth is a phase of transition for a woman. Mothers who have high perceived maternal role competence are able to make a successful transition to motherhood and gain mastery in their maternal role performance. Objective: This study aims to measure the perceived maternal role competence among mothers of infant. Methodology: This study used a descriptive cross sectional design. . Simple random sampling was used to select 185 mothers of infants residing in Pokhara Sub- metropolitan City, Kaski, Nepal. Result: The mean score for perceived maternal role competence of respondents was 72.48±8.33. More than one quarter (26.5%) of respondents had a good level of perceived maternal role competence. There was a significant association between level of perceived maternal role competence and age of the mother (p<0.022), educational status (p=0.011), employment status (p=0.019) and readiness for pregnancy (p=0.022). There was a statistically significant correlation (p=<0.001) between satisfaction and self-efficacy subscale of parent sense of competence scale. Conclusion: The study concluded that influencing factors for perceived maternal role competence are mothers’ age, educational status, employment status and readiness for pregnancy. So health care professionals should focus on family planning counseling and community awareness programs to raise women’s educational status and empowerment so that every pregnancy is planned and help mother to adapt successfully in transition to motherhood.