The Relationship Between Husband’s Support and Mothers’ Self-Efficacy in Infant Care at the Working Area of Tirto 1 Public Health Center

Abstract

Introduction: Maternal self-efficacy in infant care plays an important role in the quality of parenting. Husband support is believed to improve maternal self-efficacy. Objective: To determine the correlation between husband support and maternal selfefficacy in infant care. 

Methods: This research was a quantitative correlational study with a cross-sectional approach. The research sample consisted of postpartum mothers with infants aged 0 to 40 days, selected by total sampling, with a total of 42 respondents in the work area of Tirto Public Health Center 1, Pekalongan Regency. Data were collected using the Perceived Maternal Parental Self-Efficacy questionnaire by Barnes. The husband support questionnaire was developed by the researcher, tested for validity with corrected item-total correlation values ranging from 0.533 to 0.848 (r table = 0.444) and for reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.950. Bivariate analysis was conducted using the Chi-Square test. 

Results: Good husband support was reported by 22 respondents (52.4 percent). Good self-efficacy was also reported by 22 respondents (52.4 percent). The Chi-Square test showed a significant correlation between husband support and maternal self-efficacy in infant care (p = 0.032). The Odds Ratio (OR) was 3.980, indicating that mothers who did not receive husband support were 3.980 times more likely to have low self-efficacy compared to mothers who received husband support. 

Conclusion: Good husband support can improve maternal self-efficacy in infant care. Health workers are expected to increase husband involvement to enhance maternal selfefficacy in infant care.