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The Role Of Uk Weaning Guidelines And The Sources Of Weaning Advice Used By Uk First Time Mothers

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In another mixed method study to explore the knowledge of the UK weaning guidelines and the sources of weaning advice used by UK first-time mothers (Moore et al, 2012), findings were quite similar to the first study. The use of elements from both quantitative and qualitative research approaches have been found to contribute positively to the research process (Johnson et al. 2007). This was the main methodological strength of this study together with its size although there remains the argument that combining two methods of research can be difficult (Giddings and Grant, 2006). Gildea et al (2009) support the use of the internet in obtaining information on weaning. The result showed 86% of the respondents had knowledge about the guidelines that related to weaning which resulted in later weaning. A significant number of the mothers got weaning information from different places, but health visitor advice had the most influence on the 26% of the mother’s decision to wean, while the internet attributed to 25% and books to 18% of mothers. Nevertheless, 56% still attributed the source of conflicting advice to come from healthcare professionals. This supports findings by Moore et al (2012) who found that Health Visitors were inconsistent with the advice they gave on weaning guidelines and recommendations. This is despite the fact that they are the largest number of health professionals who give advice to postnatal mothers in the UK. This inconsistency in advice also contributes to

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