Assessment of Postnatal Mothers’ Knowledge of Newborn Care Practices: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Although Bangladesh made substantial progress in reducing neonatal mortality, practice of essential newborn care is very low resulting in neonatal deaths. This study aimed to identify postnatal mother’s knowledge of newborn care practices. A hospitalbased cross-sectional study among 211 postnatal mothers was conducted using purposive sampling technique. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for interviews and Chi-square test was done to analyze collected data. Around 38% of mothers were aged between 16 and 20 years, 28% had secondary school education, 55% were primigravida, and only 26.5% attended antenatal visit for >4 times. Nearly 36% of them had warm clothes and 8% used kangaroo method for thermoregulation. Two-thirds of the mothers strongly agreed that breastfeeding was essential for the baby, 58% strongly agreed that colostrum must be provided to the newborn, and around 60% strongly agreed that exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) should be given up to 6 months of age. Majority of mothers knew about immunization at birth. Knowledge gaps were identified about cord care, eye care, first bathing, and hygiene practices. Nonetheless, only a minority of respondents had good knowledge of newborn care. In addition, highly significant statistical association was found between knowledge level and sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. To further increase postnatal mother’s knowledge of newborn care practices, implementation of guidelines outlined in the Maternal Child Health handbook is highly recommended.