Newborn care practices at home and in health facilities in 4 regions of Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundEthiopia is one of the ten countries with the highest number of neonatal deaths globally, and only 1 in 10 women deliver with a skilled attendant. Promotion of essential newborn care practices is one strategy for improving newborn health outcomes that can be delivered in communities as well as facilities. This article describes newborn care practices reported by recently-delivered women (RDWs) in four regions of Ethiopia.MethodsWe conducted a household survey with two-stage cluster sampling to assess newborn care practices among women who delivered a live baby in the period 1 to 7 months prior to data collection.ResultsThe majority of women made one antenatal care (ANC) visit to a health facility, although less than half made four or more visits and women were most likely to deliver their babies at home. About one-fifth of RDWs in this survey had contact with Health Extension Workers (HEWS) during ANC, but nurse/midwives were the most common providers, and few women had postnatal contact with any health provider. Common beneficial newborn care practices included exclusive breastfeeding (87.6%), wrapping the baby before delivery of the placenta (82.3%), and dry cord care (65.2%). Practices contrary to WHO recommendations that were reported in this population of recent mothers include bathing during the first 24 hours of life (74.7%), application of butter and other substances to the cord (19.9%), and discarding of colostrum milk (44.5%). The results suggest that there are not large differences for most essential newborn care indicators between facility and home deliveries, with the exception of delayed bathing and skin-to-skin care.ConclusionsImproving newborn care and newborn health outcomes in Ethiopia will likely require a multifaceted approach. Given low facility delivery rates, community-based promotion of preventive newborn care practices, which has been effective in other settings, is an important strategy. For this strategy to be successful, the coverage of counseling delivered by HEWs and other community volunteers should be increased.

Postnatal care utilization among urban women in northern Ethiopia: cross-sectional survey

“…The result is similar to studies conducted in India [20] and Indonesia [21] where women with two or more children had utilized less postnatal care service than women who had a child for the first time. The current study findings corroborates with studies conducted in southern Ethiopia [13], in Jabitena district, Amhara region [15], and in four regions of Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region, and Tigrai) [16], where utilization of postnatal care service was found to decrease as number of pregnancy increase. Women who got four and more pregnancies were less likely to utilize PNC compared to primi gravida women.…”

“…The finding was comparable with the findings of EDHS 2011, in which 32% of urban women had utilized the service [2]. However, the finding was higher than a similar study done in north Gondar, Ethiopia where only 6.3% women utilized PNC service [11], another study conducted in Jabitena district, Amhara region where 20.2% women utilized the service [15] and a study done in four regions of Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region, and Tigrai) where only 10.6% women utilized PNC services [16]. The possible reasons for the variations might be due methodological differences of the studies and differences in study subject’s residence and the period.…”

Mother’s Level of Knowledge on Neonatal Danger Signs and Its Predictors in Chencha District, Southern Ethiopia

“…The prevalence of mother's level of knowledge about neonatal danger signs was higher than the studies conducted in four regions of Ethiopia (29.3%), Nigeria (30.3%), Kenya (15.5%) and North West of Ethiopia (18.2%) [8,9,11,20]. The reason for this difference is extensive work of HEWs in the community and different health care institution in awareness creation on neonatal danger signs in the study area and study period difference.…”

“…Studies done in four regions of Ethiopia, Enugu state, South-East of Nigeria, Nakuru Central District, Kenya and Gondar town, North West of Ethiopia showed that mothers knowledge of three or more danger signs were 29.3%, 30.3%, 15.5% and 18.2% respectively [8,9,11,12]. Recent studies identified that predictors for knowledge about neonatal danger signs were educational status, socio-economic status, the consumption of maternal and child health (MCH) services and source of information [9,[11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…Evidence from different studies which was conducted in Ethiopia and other parties of world stated that mother's knowledge about neonatal danger signs were low [7][8][9][10]. Studies done in four regions of Ethiopia, Enugu state, South-East of Nigeria, Nakuru Central District, Kenya and Gondar town, North West of Ethiopia showed that mothers knowledge of three or more danger signs were 29.3%, 30.3%, 15.5% and 18.2% respectively [8,9,11,12].…”