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Journal of Tropical Pediatrics Advance Access originally published online on December 14, 2006
Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 2007 53(2):113-118; doi:10.1093/tropej/fml080
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© The Author [2006]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Newborn Care Practices at Home: Effect of a Hospital-based Intervention in Sri Lanka

Upul Senaratha *, Dulitha N. Fernandoa and Ishani Rodrigob

Departments of aCommunity Medicine, and bPaediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Correspondence: Dr Upul Senarath, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, 25, Kynsey Road, Colombo 08, Sri Lanka. E-mail < upul.senarath{at}yahoo.com>.


  Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of an essential newborn care (ENC) training programme for maternity ward staff in improving newborn care practices after hospital discharge. A before-and-after study was conducted in the community involving mothers who had given birth in two hospitals in the Puttalam district in Sri Lanka. The intervention was a 4-day training programme and primarily aimed at increasing knowledge and skills of ENC among health care providers in the maternity units of these hospitals. Before the intervention, 144 mother–newborn pairs were followed-up and interviewed at their households within 28–35 days of delivery. Three months after the intervention, 150 mother–newborn pairs were interviewed at home. Results revealed that there was a significant improvement in umbilical cord care practices at home following the intervention. Application of ‘surgical spirit’ on umbilical cord has declined from 71.5% in the pre-intervention to 45.3% in the post-intervention samples (p < 0.001). Pre-intervention breastfeeding rates were high, and there wasn't any further improvement in the post-intervention. There was a 35% reduction in the proportion of newborns who developed any undesirable health events at home (p < 0.05). Findings suggest that the implementation of a comprehensive 4-day training programme of ENC for maternity ward health professionals can be followed by a significant improvement in mothers' practices on care of umbilical cord and clinical outcomes of newborns.

Key Words: essential newborn care • training of health staff • neonatal care • Sri Lanka

*Upul Senarath was offered a visiting fellowship at the School of Medical Practice and Population Health, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia during the preparation of the manuscript.


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