Newborn-Care Practices and Health-Seeking Behavior in Rural Eastern Ethiopia: A Community-Based Study

Most of the newborn deaths in developing countries occur at home. Up to two-thirds of these deaths would have been prevented if mothers and newborns had received known and effective interventions. The objective of this study is to determine newborn-care practices and health-seeking behavior in rural Eastern Ethiopia.

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Adadle district, Ethiopian Somali Regional State. A multi-stage random sampling technique was applied. Women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) living in Adadle District were eligible to participate in the study. Data were entered, cleaned and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19 for windows.

A total of 829 women between the ages of 15 and 49 years were involved in the study. Of which, 698 women had a live birth, 23% reported that their babies were placed in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers' belly/chest before the placenta was delivered, 79% of newborns were bathed within 24 h of delivery. From this figure, 71% of the babies were bathed within the first 12 h after delivery and 44% reported their baby was ill during the first week of life.

The study had shown suboptimal newborns practice in the study area, which put the newborns into significant health risk. Strong public education and capacity building to frontline health workers can be recommended.