Kibaru and Otara BMC Res Notes (2016) 9:481 DOI 10.1186/s13104-016-2272-3
RESEARCH ARTICLE
BMC Research Notes Open Access
Knowledge of neonatal danger signs among mothers attending well baby clinic in Nakuru Central District, Kenya: cross sectional descriptive study Elizabeth Gathoni Kibaru1* and Amos Magembe Otara2
Abstract Background: Neonatal mortality has remained high in Kenya despite various efforts being applied to reduce this negative trend. Early detection of neonatal illness is an important step towards improving new born survival. Toward this end there is need for the mothers to be able to identify signs in neonates that signifies severe neonatal illnesses. The objective of the study was to determine the level of knowledge of mothers attending well baby clinics on postnatal neonatal danger signs and determine the associated factors. Study design: Cross sectional descriptive study. Study methods: Purposive sampling of Health care facilities that provide antenatal, delivery and postnatal services were identified. In each of the selected health facility structured questionnaires were administered to mothers with children aged six weeks to nine months attending well baby clinics. Frequencies, Chi square and multivariate logistic regression were determined using the SPSS software (version 20). Results: During the period of study 414 mothers attending well baby clinics were interviewed. Information on neonatal dangers was not provided to 237 (57.2%) of the postnatal mothers during their antenatal clinic attendance by the health care providers. Majority of mothers 350 (84.5%) identified less than three neonatal danger signs. Hotness of the body (fever) was the commonly recognized danger sign by 310 (74.9%) postnatal mothers. Out of 414 mothers 193 (46.6%), 166 (40.1%), 146 (35.3%) and 24 (5.8%) identified difficulty in breathing, poor sucking, jaundice and lethargy/unconsciousness as new born danger signs respectively. Only 46 (11.1%) and 40 (9.7%) identified convulsion and hypothermia as new born danger signs respectively. Education Level, PNC accompaniment by Spouse, Danger signs information to Mother, Explanation of MCH booklet by Care provider during ANC and Mother read MCH Booklet were factors positively associated with improved knowledge of neonatal danger sign. In multivariate logistic regression none of the factors tested were statistically significant in relation to level of knowledge. Conclusion: Knowledge of neonatal danger signs was low among mothers attending well baby clinic despite the information being available in the MCH booklets provided to the mothers during antenatal clinics. Keywords: Danger signs, MCH booklet
*Correspondence:
[email protected] 1 Department of Paediatric and Child Heath, Faculty of Health Sciences, Egerton University, Nakuru, Kenya Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Kibaru and Otara BMC Res Notes (2016) 9:481
Background Globally, almost three-quarters of neonatal deaths occur within the first seven days of delivery [1]. Million newborns die during the first 4 weeks of life each year and world-wide neonatal mortality makes up 40% of the total child mortality [1, 2]. In a study by Matendo et al. [3] in Congo, they found that most neonatal deaths occurred soon after birth, and nearly three-quarters were caused by low birth weight/prematurity or asphyxia. In Kenya the neonatal mortality rate was reported in the 2014 demographic survey as 22 deaths per 1000 live births [4]. The high mortality and morbidity rates have been attributed to a significant break in the continuum of care in the service-delivery strategy after delivery. Care during Post Natal Clinic is critical for both the mother and baby [5]. In Kenya post natal care follow up remain very low which is comparable to studies elsewhere. Postnatal period has been identified as one of the periods when information concerning neonatal danger signs is passed on to the mother and this assist the mothers to identify children at risk and seek medical assistance early. In the Bangladesh demographic health survey showed that less than one in five newborns is checked by a health professional within six weeks of delivery with only 12% of babies receiving postnatal check-up by a trained health provider within the first two days of delivery [6]. In Kenya the percentage of mothers who attended postnatal care clinic within the first two days after delivery was 51% with no mention of percentage of new-borns who were reviewed within the same period [4]. The primary strategic of reducing mortality is to increase sustainable key health-practices and the use of essential services in communities. The most effective strategies to reduce mortality are those that treat the causes of early mortality. Various factors influence the women ability to seek care for their neonates. It has been noted that women’s utilization of maternal and neonatal health services are often influenced by perceived socio-cultural, economic and health system factors operating at the community, household and individual level as well as within the larger social and political environments and health care infrastructure [7, 8]. Early identification of new born danger signs by caregivers with prompt and appropriate referral serves as backbone of the programs aiming at reduction in neonatal mortality [9]. Neonates are more prone to show subtle signs of illness and these can only be identified by the immediate care givers who have adequate knowledge on features to look for. Listlessness or difficulty feeding are sometimes the only signs present and illness may advance quickly [10, 11]. Different tools to facilitate identification of these health problems and reduce neonatal mortality have been introduced into health programs in several countries. Integrated Management of Newborn and Childhood Illness (IMNCI) developed by the World
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Health Organization (WHO) focuses on assessment of general danger signs in the examination of children presenting with illness at health care centres. WHO in 2013 strongly recommended specific danger signs that should be assessed during each postnatal care contact and the new born should be referred for further evaluation if any of the signs are present [12]. The family should also be encouraged to seek health care early if they identify any danger signs in-between postnatal care visits [12]. The danger signs are as follows; stopped feeding well, History of convulsions, fast breathing (breathing rate >60/min) severe chest in-drawing, no spontaneous movement, fever (temperature >37.5 °C), low body temperature (temperature
