Relationship between post-partum mothers' knowledge and essential newborn care practices in Jambi, Indonesia

Essential Newborn Care (ENC) is crucial for neonatal survival, which is known to be very significant for the objective of Sustainable Development Goals in 2030 as an attempt to decrease neonatal morbidity and mortality. Mothers play an important role in ENC. This study aimed to delve into the relationship between mothers' knowledge, parity, education level, age, occupation, economic status, and ENC practices in post-partum mothers.

A cross-sectional design was conducted in Jambi, Indonesia from June to August 2021. There were 152 post-partum mothers who had neonates aged 0-28 days, consisting of 76 primiparous and 76 multiparous mothers. A questionnaire on ENC knowledge and practice was utilized to collect the data from the instrument of the previous study. The data were examined using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses.

Multivariate analysis on ENC practices revealed that mothers with low knowledge had a higher risk of performing poor ENC practices with OR 10.6 than those with high knowledge, and it was significantly different. Mothers with low educational level had more risks of practicing poor ENC with OR 2.9 than those with high educational level, which was significantly different. Meanwhile, parity, age, occupation, and economic status of post-partum mothers did not present a statistically significant correlation (p>0.05) with ENC practices.

There was a significant difference in ENC practices, with high risk in those who had low knowledge followed by low education. There was no association between ENC practices and parity, age, occupation, and economic status of post-partum mothers. These findings highlight the importance of improving the knowledge of post-partum mothers in supporting ENC practices. The result of the study should nevertheless be interpreted in such a way by considering the limitations of the study design and the instruments used.