Table 2.

List of core themes and sub-themes for optimal breastfeeding practices emerging from inductive data analysis and their code prevalence according to the different groups of recently delivered mothers.

Core theme	Sub-themes	Code prevalence *
		Healthy (COVID-19 -ve) RDM with healthy newborn (N = 18)	RDM with COVID-19 and		Total (N = 45)
			Healthy newborn (N = 19)	Sick newborn (N = 8)
Perceived barriers	Compromised newborn care	Many	Most	All	Most
	Anxiety related to COVID-19	Many	Many	Some	Many
	Difficulty in breastfeeding or expressing breastmilk	Many	Many	Many	Many
	Inadequate counseling on IPC for newborn care	Many	Few	Some	Some
	Inadequate knowledge on breastfeeding	Some	Few	Many	Some
	Management and logistic issues	Some	Some	Many	Some
	Delayed or unsatisfactory inpatient care services	Some	Some	Some	Some
	Rooming in avoided	Few	Some	All	Some
	Mother and newborn were discharged separately	Few	Some	Few	Few
	RDMs lacked support as attendants entry into the wards was restricted	Few	Many	Some	Some
	Problems faced during admission for delivery	Few	None		Few
	Inadequate/ lack of support with follow-up care	Few	Few		Few
	Lack of privacy for RDMs		Few		Few
	Referral transfer between hospitals for COVID		Some	Many	Few
Perceived enablers	Counseling on breastfeeding	Most	Many	Most	Many
	Counseling on COVID-19 to allay fear	Few	Many	Some	Some
	Optimizing time for discharge from hospital for mother–newborn dyads	Few	Few	Few	Few
	Infrastructural modifications and “zoning” during COVID	Few	Some	Few	Some
	Additional measures were undertaken for control of infection and anxiety among patients and providers	Many	Few	Some	Some
	No help required to the RDM in feeding the newborn	Many	Some	Many	Some
	Support from family for follow-up care	Some	Some	Some	Some
	Support from family members during hospital stay	Some	Some	None	Some
	Support from hospital and doctor for follow-up treatment	Some	Some	Many	Some
	Support received in inpatient care	Many	Most	Most	Most
	Received comprehensive advice on newborn care & infection control practices	Many	Most	Most	Many
	Family members advised RDM to breastfeed		Few	Many	Few
	Infrastructural modifications for better support		Some		Few
	Support to RDMs during isolation		Some	Many	Some
	Support from the hospital staff with feeding of the baby		Some	Most	Some
	No help with follow-up care required			Few	Few
	Prompt care of the newborn received			Many	Few

^*Percentages grouped as: “None (0%); Few (below 25%); Some (25–49%); Many (50–74%); Most (74–99%); All (100%)”.

HOD, heads of department/unit of Neonatology, Pediatrics, Obstetrics; RDM, Recently Delivered Mother, COVID, Coronavirus disease.