Abstract:

Background: Hydrocephalus (from Greek hydro-, meaning "water", and cephalons, meaning "head") is a disorder in which an excessive amount of CSF accumulates within the cerebral ventricles and / or subarachnoid spaces, resulting in ventricular dilatation and increases intracranial pressure. Hydrocephalus can be congenital or acquired, the congenital it acoured when there is a buildup of excessive CSF in the brain at birth . Acquired it acoured after birth when there is blockage in absorption of CSF in the brain causes include hemorrhage, meningitis, head trauma, tumors, and cysts. Congenital hydrocephalus affects about one in every 1000 births. Most cases are detected early, either at or soon after birth. The incidence of acquired hydrocephalus in adults is not known because it occurs as a result of injury, illness, or environmental factors. Approximately 80% - 90% of children with spina bifida develop hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus without appropriate treatment can lead to irreversible brain damage, eyesight problems and mental retardation. This study was designed to assess how mothers of babies with hydrocephalus are affected by negative ercetion about hydrocephalus

Objectives assessing the negative perception the community has about hydrocephalus and how those perception affect mothers with HC babies at BMC pediatric ward

Materials and methods a quantitative research based cross section study design was used. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was reformed using SPSS version 23.0. 384 mothers were sampled after permission to conduct the study was requested and obtained
 
Results: the study enrolled 384 mothers of babies with HC of which 259(67.4%) from the community they were thinking witchcraft is the cause of Childs condition, 295(76.8%) they were not involved in decision making and 339(88.3%) they were not involved in community activities also 338(88%) they were not treated equally like other members of community and 352(91.7%) they interact a bit with others and 352(91.7%) their caring role is not recognized by community

Conclusion: The study established that mothers marital status and religious affiliation were strong predictors of future life goals for mothers bearing children with hydrocephalus. Acceptance, financial independence and social support were the major coping strategies employed. Further, the mothers age, level of education and the value of caregiving by the community strongly determined the coping strategies of the mothers. There is need for stakeholder to enlighten community members on hydrocephalus and provide social support for children with the condition.