Factors Related to Mother's Competency in Caring for Low Birth Weight Baby Based on Theory of Planned Behavior

Care giving competency for mother with low birth weight baby should be improved to avoid infant from disability and morbidity. This study was aimed to analyze factors related the mother's competency in caring for low birth weight baby. This study used descriptive analysis with cross sectional approach. The population was mother with low birth weight baby in Manggarai NTT. Total sample was 57 respondents. The independent variables were knowledge, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control and intention. The dependent variable was mother's competency in caring for low birth weight baby. Data was collected using modified questionnaire from Ajzen Theory and were analyzed using logistic regression test with significance level ≤ 0.05. Result showed that knowledge (p=0.02), attitude (p=0.033), subjective norm (p=0.016), and perceived behaviour control (p=0.012) have correlation with mother's competency in caring for low birth weight baby. However, intention has no correlation with mother's competency. It can be concluded that better knowledge, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behaviour control lead to better competency. Mothers with low birth weight babies need to have health information seeking behavior to improve positive attitudes and perceptions that will improve competence in caring for babies.