Many of the women in the world would like to experience the amazing moment of pregnancy due to the importance attached to motherhood and to having a baby, which has made pregnancy a precious asset mostly in marriages [1] . However, the baby may be born before their expected dates due to the mother’s condition and these babies are likely to be born with low birth weights because they are born before time. Low birth weight babies refer to babies that are born weighing less than 2500 grams irrespective of gestational age [2] .

Low birth weight (LBW) can be caused by premature birth; this is when an infant is born before 37 weeks of gestation [2] . These babies may have an increase in risks for medical problems such as mental retardation, vision loss and learning problem. They are also at risk for feeding difficulties; these complications may prolong their hospital stays and might further delay their progression towards oral feeding [3] . Babies born before time but closer to term appear to need supervision for a few days but, they are usually statistically in good shape with mild or no health problems. However, preterm infants have a significantly higher mortality rate than term infants [1] .

The weight of a baby at birth is the most commonly used outcome measure of pregnancy, commonly investigated in epidemiological studies, and is widely associated with mortality and morbidity risks of infants [4] . The prevalence of low birth weight is higher in developing countries compared to developed countries and is associated with increased risks for health outcomes [5] .

Mothers are usually hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) together with their newborn, and can spend most of the day in this highly technological space. Although this is a significant change in the early treatment of premature babies, this type of environment prevents mothers from establishing a true contact with their newborn because babies are most kept in incubators; they often feel more like visitors than parents involved in care-taking procedures and, as a result, they usually have difficulty in getting confidence in their own parenting role and in starting social exchanges with the baby [6] .

In Namibia, it is stipulated that both low birth weight and prematurity are the causes of more than half of neonatal death. Windhoek central hospital admitted 1124 babies between April 2014 and March 2015, which 60% of this number were small term babies, which means these babies were delivered at nine months but born with less than 2.5 kg [7] .

Due to limited spaces for lodgers in WCH neonatal unit and the fact that WCH is the referral hospital, they only accommodate mothers who were referred or transferred in from outside Windhoek. So, these mothers will have to spend as much time away from their homes and families and the others from Windhoek have to commute daily to and from the hospital to see their babies. Against this background, the researcher found it necessary to explore and determine the mothers’ experiences during the hospitalisation of their low birth weight babies so that mothers can be supported during this time.

Caring for a low birth weight baby in the hospital present a challenge for parents on both practical and emotional level, it can also be emotionally draining, demanding in time and financial support for the mother. These may affect and complicate the early baby-mother interaction [8] . The researchers in this study discovered that most mothers mainly, the ones from Windhoek were discharged few days after delivery and were told to come every day to express breast milk to feed their low birth weight babies and to keep the baby-mother contact, while the ones transferred from outside Windhoek where given rooms to stay in the neonatal unit until their babies gain the normal weight. Despite the fact that many studies were conducted on the low birth weight babies less is studied about the experiences of mothers in the hospital of interest. Therefore, this study was a realization of the need to explore and determine these mothers’ experiences during the hospitalisation of their babies.

The purpose and objective of this study was the same that is to explore and describe the experiences of the mothers during the hospitalisation of their low birth weight babies in neonatal unit Windhoek central hospital.

A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used. A qualitative approach was utilized to explore and describe the experiences of the mothers during the hospitalisation of their low birth weight babies at neonatal unit in Windhoek Central Hospital.

The population of this study were mothers that had babies hospitalized in neonatal unit, Windhoek central hospital, The target population of this study were mothers that have low birth weight babies born in January to June 2017, with the weight less than 2000 g admitted in neonatal unit Windhoek Central Hospital, which were estimated to be at the number of twenty (N = 20).

The sample size was taken from the study population by the use of purposive sampling method. However, the sample size was also determined by the saturation of data. The inclusion criterion made according to the study objectives were: Mothers who have low birth weight babies born in 2017 Admitted in Windhoek Central Hospital, mothers who could speak English or Oshiwambo and could participate willingly and voluntarily in the study. The exclusion criterion included: Mothers with babies that were not born with low weight e.g. sick babies, mothers that were eligible and willing to participate but do not have low birth weight babies and mothers who were willing to participant but, could not speak any of the languages that the researcher was fluent in.

Pilot study was conducted on 3 participants that were asked about their experiences. Pilot study was done in neonatal unit at Windhoek Central Hospital.

The demographic information which was gathered from the ten (10) participants include: age, marital status and employment. Participants aged 20 - 29 were 6 (60%) and the other 4 (40%) participants were aged 30 and above. 7 (70%) of the participants were single mothers while 3 (30%) were married. There was an equal number of both employed and unemployed participants which was 5 (50%).

The researcher collected data during the month of September 2017, after the permission was granted by the University of Namibia and by the MOHSS. Face to face interviews were conducted on a sample of ten (10) participants. Prior to the interviews the aim of the study and how the study findings will be utilized were explained to the participants this was done to obtain consent and to ensure the principles of respect, justice, and beneficence. The researcher chose a single room which was lockable to ensure that participants were comfortable and no harm would come to them. Participants were approached with respected and there was no discrimination. Interviews were started off with one broad question that was posed to all the participants, probing was done according to how each participant responded. Interviews were tape recorded, with the permission of the participants and field notes were taken to make sure all participants’ experiences were captured.

The researchers employed four criterions to develop trustworthiness such as credibility. Credibility was maintained through: member checking by playing the tape recording to the participants, the researchers had worked in neonatal unit, which allowed prolonged engagement, for peer review or debriefing the colleagues and the supervisor, who is a doctoral graduate, went through the data that was collected. The second criteria was dependability, which was ensured through the use of dependability audits by receiving guidance from the supervisor, describing methodology in detail and literature review was carried out, for triangulation the researcher used a qualitative, descriptive and explorative design and collected data through individual interview, field notes and tape recorded the interviews. Sample and sampling method, data collection and data analysis were clearly described in the study for dense description.

Conformability was also one of the criterions to develop trustworthiness. The researcher ensured it through the use of conformability audits by attending research lectures, which helped in carrying out the study. Lastly was transferability, which was ensured through the use of purposive sampling method which was used to select participants.

The researcher utilized a series of steps for analyzing data. The data about the mothers’ experience were recorded with a tape recorder as mentioned in data collection procedure, this data was then: translated, transcribed and coded, and then themes and sub-themes were generated this was done in line with Tesch’s method of data analysis [9] .