Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Perceived Influence Of Grandparents’ Beliefs And Attitudes On Parents’ Breastfeeding Behaviour And Paediatric Vaccination Decisions, Shantha Premila Karthigesu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Human infants are highly dependent on their parents for a prolonged period of time. The resources required to raise a child cannot be provided by biological parents alone and requires the assistance of others, usually relatives. Grandparents among them, have played the most significant role. With increased life expectancy in Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) societies, grandparents have come to the forefront as informal childcare providers. Although the influence of a child’s social environment on health has been well-studied, the influence of grandparents, specifically in regard to breastfeeding remains inconclusive, while grandparental influence on paediatric vaccinations has not …