*2.4. Data Collection*

Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with all of the participants, which lasted approximately one hour each. An interview schedule consisted of 12 questions, along with a timeline tool. The interview schedule covered the three key areas of the Western Cape's First 1000 Days campaign—(1) health and nutrition; (2) love and attention; and (3) play and stimulation. During the interview, the participants were asked a variety of questions about the time-period of their child's first 1000 days—from pregnancy until their child's second birthday. The interview schedule contained two sections, the first section covered questions regarding the pregnancy phase, whereas the second section focused on questions relating to the phase from birth to two years. These open-ended questions were formulated in a simple style, and the following were asked—(1) describe your living conditions while you were pregnant with your child; (2) tell me more about your own health during your pregnancy; (3) explain what you ate and drank during your pregnancy; (4) tell me more about the people who helped and supported you during your pregnancy; (5) describe your feelings towards your unborn baby while you were pregnant with your child; (6) how did you experience the pregnancy?; (7) describe your living conditions from the time your child was born until two years of age; (8) tell me more about your child's health from birth until two years; (9) tell me more about your child's nutrition from birth until two years; (10) describe your relationship with your child from birth until two years; (11) how did you play with your child from birth until two years?; and (12) describe any challenges regarding your child since the time he/she was born until two years of age. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, as preparation for the data analysis.

### *2.5. Data Analysis*

Thematic analysis was utilized to analyze the qualitative data, in order to identify various themes [46]. This involved six phases [47,48], as seen in Figure 1. Additionally, QDA Miner Lite, a free version of the Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software

(CAQDAS), version 1.4, Provalis Research, Montreal, QC, Canada, was used to assist with the data analysis process [49].

#### **Figure 1.** Phases of thematic analysis.
