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. 2018 May 24;18(1):173.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-018-1145-4.

Prevalence and determinants of essential newborn care practices in the Lawra District of Ghana

Mahama Saaka  1 , Fusena Ali  2 , Felicia Vuu  2
Affiliations

Prevalence and determinants of essential newborn care practices in the Lawra District of Ghana

Mahama Saaka et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: There was less than satisfactory progress, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, towards child and maternal mortality targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. The main aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and determinants of essential new newborn care practices in the Lawra District of Ghana.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in June 2014 on a sample of 422 lactating mothers and their children aged between 1 and 12 months. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants who attended post-natal clinic in the Lawra district hospital.

Results: Of the 418 newborns, only 36.8% (154) was judged to have had safe cord care, 34.9% (146) optimal thermal care, and 73.7% (308) were considered to have had adequate neonatal feeding. The overall prevalence of adequate new born care comprising good cord care, optimal thermal care and good neonatal feeding practices was only 15.8%. Mothers who attained at least Senior High Secondary School were 20.5 times more likely to provide optimal thermal care [AOR 22.54; 95% CI (2.60-162.12)], compared to women had no formal education at all. Women who received adequate ANC services were 4.0 times (AOR = 4.04 [CI: 1.53, 10.66]) and 1.9 times (AOR = 1.90 [CI: 1.01, 3.61]) more likely to provide safe cord care and good neonatal feeding as compared to their counterparts who did not get adequate ANC. However, adequate ANC services was unrelated to optimal thermal care. Compared to women who delivered at home, women who delivered their index baby in a health facility were 5.6 times more likely of having safe cord care for their babies (AOR = 5.60, Cl: 1.19-23.30), p = 0.03.

Conclusions: The coverage of essential newborn care practices was generally low. Essential newborn care practices were positively associated with high maternal educational attainment, adequate utilization of antenatal care services and high maternal knowledge of newborn danger signs. Therefore, greater improvement in essential newborn care practices could be attained through proven low-cost interventions such as effective ANC services, health and nutrition education that should span from community to health facility levels.

Keywords: Essential newborn care; Lawra District; Neonate feeding; Newborn danger signs; Optimal thermal care; Safe cord care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the Scientific Review and Ethics Committee of the School of Allied Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Ghana.

Written approval was obtained from the local health authorities in the district where the study was conducted. All participants were informed about the purpose of the study and their right to decline participation in the study was explained by the data collectors. Informed consent was also obtained after needed information and explanation. In situations, where the respondent could not write or read, verbal informed consent was sought from all the study participants before the commencement of any interview.

The Ethics Committee approved the verbal consent sought from the participants.

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