Knowledge and use of chorhexidine gel in umbilical cord care among postpartum women at Poly General Hospital, Enugu, Southeast Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Sepsis in the first week or two of life is a major cause of newborn deaths. People from diverse cultural backgrounds use different substances for umbilical cord care. Evidence-based umbilical cord care practices have a large potential to lower infant morbidity and mortality linked to infection. This study investigated the knowledge and use of chlorhexidine gel for umbilical cord care. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive survey was employed among 191 postpartum women at the Poly General Hospital Asata, Enugu, selected through simple random sampling. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used for data collection. Results More than one-half (n=101; 52.1%) had poor knowledge of chlorhexidine gel use in umbilical cord care. There was no significant association between educational status and knowledge of chlorhexidine gel use in umbilical cord care among the participants (p=0.072). Only 89 (46.6%) had ever used chlorhexidine gel for umbilical cord care, while 49 (25.7%) used chlorhexidine gel for their last child. Parity was not significantly associated with the use of chlorhexidine gel (p=0.736). Both educational status (p=0.019) and knowledge of chlorhexidine use for umbilical cord care (p<0.001) were found to be significantly associated with its use. Conclusions There was poor knowledge of chlorhexidine gel use for umbilical cord care among the participants. Use of chlorhexidine gel in this population is still suboptimal. Healthcare providers should continue to provide information on chlorhexidine gel use in umbilical cord care in order to optimise its knowledge and use. Other factors associated with the use of chlorhexidine gel for umbilical cord care should be explored.

Umbilical Cord Care Knowledge and Practice among Caregivers in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

“…This finding is however higher than the rather low values of 11.7% and 2.8% reported in other studies. [25,26] Israel et al [27] and Aitafo et al [28] 28 reported chlorhexidine gel awareness of 60.7% and 63.3% but good knowledge scores of 47.1% and 34.2% respectively following further evaluation. These results differed from the high chlorhexidine cord care awareness 80.2% reported by Owusu et al 23] Awareness of the use of methylated spirit in this study by most of the respondents is in line with findings made by many other studies [19,21,[23][24][25][26]29].…”