Knowledge attitiude and practice of neonatal care among postnatal mothers.

Abstract

The present study was designed to assess the knowledge and attitude of neonatal care practices among postnatal mothers in a tertiary care hospital. This descriptive study was carried out in the Neonatal Division, Department of Pediatrics of a tertiary care hospital in South India during April ? July 2009. The data was collected from 100 postnatal mothers by trained interviewers using a structured proforma. In addition to demographic data, mothers were also asked about their knowledge on and attitude towards neonatal care and the practices they follow. Scoring of the responses to questions was done and the data was analyzed using SPSS Ver.13. Knowledge of mothers was inadequate in areas of umbilical cord care (35%), thermal care (76%) and vaccine preventable diseases. Nineteen percentage of them still practice oil instillation into nostrils of newborns and 61% of them administer gripe water to their babies. This study indicates that awareness and attitude of postnatal mothers towards neonatal care has lots of lacunae especially in those who belong to the lower socio-economic status. There is scope for improvement by providing better care and health education for antenatal mothers.