. 2023 Jan 26;23(1):71.

doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-05322-6.

Low knowledge of newborn danger signs among pregnant women in Papua New Guinea and implications for health seeking behaviour in early infancy - findings from a longitudinal study

Donya Eghrari^#^{1

2}, Michelle J L Scoullar^#^{3

4

5}, Alyce N Wilson^{1

2}, Elizabeth Peach¹, Arthur Elijah^{6

7}, Pele Melepia⁸, Hadlee SupSup⁹, Lisa M Vallely^{10

11

12}, Peter M Siba¹³, Elissa C Kennedy^{1

14

15}, Joshua P Vogel^{1

2}, Caroline S E Homer^{1

2}, Leanne J Robinson^{1

2

10

14}, Freya J I Fowkes^{1

2

14}, William Pomat¹⁰, Brendan S Crabb^{1

2

14}, James G Beeson^{1

2

14}, Christopher J Morgan^{1

2

16}

Affiliations

¹ Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
² University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia. michelle.scoullar@burnet.edu.au.
⁴ University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. michelle.scoullar@burnet.edu.au.
⁵ Burnet Institute, Kokopo, Papua New Guinea. michelle.scoullar@burnet.edu.au.
⁶ University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
⁷ Port Moresby General Hospital, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
⁸ Burnet Institute, Kokopo, Papua New Guinea.
⁹ East New Britain Provincial Health Authority, Kokopo, Papua New Guinea.
¹⁰ Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
¹¹ The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
¹² Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
¹³ Center for Health Research and Diagnostics, Divine Word University, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
¹⁴ Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁵ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁶ Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University Affiliate, Baltimore, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 36703135
PMCID: PMC9878757
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-022-05322-6

Low knowledge of newborn danger signs among pregnant women in Papua New Guinea and implications for health seeking behaviour in early infancy - findings from a longitudinal study

Donya Eghrari et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2023.

. 2023 Jan 26;23(1):71.

doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-05322-6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
² University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia. michelle.scoullar@burnet.edu.au.
⁴ University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. michelle.scoullar@burnet.edu.au.
⁵ Burnet Institute, Kokopo, Papua New Guinea. michelle.scoullar@burnet.edu.au.
⁶ University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
⁷ Port Moresby General Hospital, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
⁸ Burnet Institute, Kokopo, Papua New Guinea.
⁹ East New Britain Provincial Health Authority, Kokopo, Papua New Guinea.
¹⁰ Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
¹¹ The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
¹² Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia.
¹³ Center for Health Research and Diagnostics, Divine Word University, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
¹⁴ Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁵ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁶ Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University Affiliate, Baltimore, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 36703135
PMCID: PMC9878757
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-022-05322-6

Abstract

Background: Globally, 2.5 million babies die in the first 28 days of life each year with most of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Early recognition of newborn danger signs is important in prompting timely care seeking behaviour. Little is known about women's knowledge of newborn danger signs in Papua New Guinea. This study aims to assess this knowledge gap among a cohort of women in East New Britain Province.

Methods: This study assessed knowledge of newborn danger signs (as defined by the World Health Organization) at three time points from a prospective cohort study of women in East New Britain Province, factors associated with knowledge of danger signs after childbirth were assessed using logistic regression. This study includes quantitative and qualitative interview data from 699 pregnant women enrolled at their first antenatal clinic visit, followed up after childbirth (n = 638) and again at one-month post-partum (n = 599).

Results: Knowledge of newborn danger signs was very low. Among the 638 women, only 9.4% knew three newborn danger signs after childbirth and only one knew all four essential danger signs defined by Johns Hopkins University 'Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness' Index. Higher knowledge scores were associated with higher gravidity, income level, partner involvement in antenatal care, and education.

Conclusion: Low levels of knowledge of newborn danger signs among pregnant women are a potential obstacle to timely care-seeking in rural Papua New Guinea. Antenatal and postnatal education, and policies that support enhanced education and decision-making powers for women and their families, are urgently needed.

Keywords: Antenatal and postpartum education; Care seeking; Danger signs; Knowledge; Newborn; Pregnant women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Cited by

Maternal awareness of newborn danger signs before discharge: a secondary analysis of baseline data from a quasi-experimental study in Uganda.
Alinaitwe B, Nkunzimaana F, Kato C, Uwimbabazi R, Nakamya P, McCoy M, Kaplan A, Ayebare E, Winter J, Ngabirano TD. Alinaitwe B, et al. Matern Health Neonatol Perinatol. 2025 Jul 1;11(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s40748-025-00214-x. Matern Health Neonatol Perinatol. 2025. PMID: 40588757 Free PMC article.

References

1. Newborns: improving survival and well-being. Fact sheet. [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/newborns-reducing-morta...]
1. Sharrow D, Hug L, You D, Alkema L, Black R, Cousens S, Croft T, Gaigbe-Togbe V, Gerland P, Guillot M, et al. Global, regional, and national trends in under-5 mortality between 1990 and 2019 with scenario-based projections until 2030: a systematic analysis by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. Lancet Glob Health. 2022;10(2):e195–e206. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00515-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. JHPIEGO: Monitoring birth preparedness and complication readiness: Tools and indicators for maternal and newborn health. In. Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs, Family Care International. ; 2004.
1. Awasthi S, Verma T, Agarwal M. Danger signs of neonatal illnesses: perceptions of caregivers and health workers in northern India. Bull World Health Organ. 2006;84:819–826. doi: 10.2471/BLT.05.029207. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. World Health Organization: WHO recommendations on newborn health: guidelines approved by the WHO Guidelines Review Committee. In. World Health Organization; 2017.

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Low knowledge of newborn danger signs among pregnant women in Papua New Guinea and implications for health seeking behaviour in early infancy - findings from a longitudinal study

Affiliations

Low knowledge of newborn danger signs among pregnant women in Papua New Guinea and implications for health seeking behaviour in early infancy - findings from a longitudinal study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Similar articles

Cited by

References

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Similar articles

Cited by

References

MeSH terms

Related information

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous