MATERNAL EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE

Abstract

Introduction: The strategies used by parents in education and childcare play a major role in the child’s development and health. Objective: To describe and analyse the maternal educational practices during the first year of life. Method: A total of 250 mothers of infants between 1-12 months participated in the study. The data was collected using the Parental Styles Inventory for Mothers of Babies (IEPMB). Results: Mothers used the positive parenting practice: Monitoring Positive. However negative practices were also present in the repertoire of the participants, especially Relaxed Discipline. Conclusion: The negative practices were not common in the behavioural repertoire of the mothers, so this phase is an appropriate stage to promote preventative interventions aimed at improving the mother-infant relationship, and therefore impacting health prevention, health promotion and child development.