Nursing intervention sessions to improve newly mothers’ home care practices for their newborns in slum areas in Cairo

Background Neonatal health is the key to child survival. Improving neonatal home care practice may substantially improve survival of newborn babies in the first month of life. Aim The study aims to assess the effect of nursing intervention sessions on improving newly mothers’ home care practices for their newborns in slum areas in Cairo. Setting The study was conducted at three Maternal and Child Health Centers that are attached to slum areas in Cairo Governorate, which are Al-Zawya Al-Hamra, El-Khusus, and El Wailya in El-Abassia area. Patients and methods A purposive sample was recruited, consisting of 162 postnatal primipara mothers and their alive newborns. The tool for data collection is newly mothers’ interviewing questionnaire (pre/post), which included (a) demographic characteristics; (b) newly mothers’ knowledge and the reported practice (pre/post) regarding breast feeding, thermal control, skin care and hygienic, safe cord care, and safety measures practices; and (c) the nursing intervention sessions for newborn’s home care practice. The results of the study revealed that mothers’ ages ranged from 18 to 40 years, and the mean of age was 23.3±5.6 years. Most of the studied mothers (87.7%) lived in flat, and 54.3% of them were living in one room, with 48.1% of them having moderate ventilation. Moreover, there are marked improvements in all aspects of mothers’ home care practice after implementation of the nursing intervention (paired t=3.708). Conclusion The study concluded that the implementation of nursing intervention sessions regarding newly mothers’ home care practices had a positive effect on improving newly mothers’ reported practices. Recommendations The study recommends that intervention classes for newly mothers should be conducted on a regular basis to discuss and teach them different aspects of home care practices for their newborn and replication of this study with a larger sample of different slums areas with longitudinal follow-up, so that the results could be generalized.