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Essential newborn care practice and its associated factors in Southwest Ethiopia
Haimanot Abebe1, Daniel Adane2, Solomon Shitu2
1Department of Public health in Reproductive Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Ethiopia. haimanotabebe78@gmail.com.
Insights
Essential newborn care (ENC) practice was low in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia, with only 41% of mothers demonstrating good practices. Improving ENC requires increased access to antenatal care, postnatal care, and health education for mothers.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Maternal and Child Health
- Neonatal Care
Background:
- Neonatal mortality remains high globally, particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia, with millions of deaths occurring within the first month of life.
- Essential newborn care (ENC) interventions are crucial for improving newborn health and preventing preventable deaths.
- Despite its importance, the level of ENC practice among mothers in many regions remains a significant concern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the level of essential newborn care (ENC) practice among mothers in Gurage Zone, Southwest Ethiopia.
- To identify factors associated with good ENC practices in the study population.
Main Methods:
- A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted involving 624 mothers who gave birth within the past six months.
- Quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed with binary and multivariate logistic regressions.
- Qualitative data were gathered through three focus group discussions with 30 purposively selected mothers and analyzed using thematic framework analysis.
Main Results:
- Only 41.0% of mothers exhibited good essential newborn care (ENC) practices.
- Urban residence, attending antenatal care visits, participating in pregnant mothers' meetings, receiving immediate postnatal care, and having good knowledge of ENC were significantly associated with better practices.
Conclusions:
- The study revealed a low magnitude of essential newborn care (ENC) practice in the Gurage Zone.
- Primary healthcare providers should prioritize consistent ENC education for newborns and mothers, especially during antenatal and MCH services.
Background:
Essential newborn care is a wide-ranging strategy intended to improve the health of newborns by implementing appropriate interventions. Approximately in 2018, an estimated 2.5 million children died in their first month of life, which is approximately 7000, newborns every day, with about a third of all neonatal deaths occurring within the first day after birth. Even though the most cause of death is preventable the burden of neonatal death is a still high in developing countries including Ethiopia. Therefore this study is aimed to assess the level of essential newborn care practice among mothers who gave birth within the past six months in Gurage Zone, Southwest Ethiopia.
Methods:
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among mothers who gave birth within the past six months in Gurage Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. For the quantitative part, 624 study participants were involved by using a multi-stage sampling method. A systematic random sampling technique was to reach the study subjects. Data entry was carried out by Epi data version 4.0.0 and analysis was done by SPSS window version 24. Binary and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify associated factors. For the qualitative part, three focus group discussions (FGD) with purposively selected 30 mothers were involved. The data were analyzed deductively by using the thematic framework analysis approach by using Open code version 4.02.
Result:
Overall good essential newborn care practice was found to be 41.0% [95%CI, 36.6-44.7]. Being urban residence [AOR 1.70, 95%CI: 1.03-2.79], attending antenatal care visit [AOR = 3.53, 95%CI: 2.14-5.83], attending pregnant mothers meeting [AOR = 1.86, 95%CI: 1.21-2.86], had immediate postnatal care [AOR = 3.92, 95% CI: 2.65-5.78], and having good knowledge about ENC [AOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.47-3.10] were significantly associated with good essential newborn care practice.
Conclusion:
This study indicated that the magnitude of essential newborn care practice was low. Thus, a primary health care provider should regularly provide ENC for newborns and take opportunities to counsel the mothers about ENC during pregnant mothers meeting and MCH services sessions.
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