Assessment of knowledge and cord care practices among pregnant women in selected PHCs in Jos metropolis, Plateau state

Abstract

Background: Umbilical cord care is an essential newborn care practice which determines newborn survival. Knowledge on cord care influences the choice of cord care practices. This study was therefore conducted to determine the umbilical cord care practices among mothers in Jos metropolis.Methods: A cross sectional study involving 119 study respondents who were selected by cluster sampling technique. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. At 95% confidence interval, a p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Thirty-nine (35.1%) of the respondents had poor knowledge of cord care while 48 (43.3%) and 24 (21.6%) had fair and good knowledge respectively. Majority of the respondents used methylated spirit for the last delivery 54 (76.1%), 5 (6.9%) used chlorhexidine gel while 11 (15%) used substances such as salt and vaseline. Respondents with tertiary education were more likely than those with secondary and primary education to use aseptic cord care (OR 0.07; 95%CI 0.008-0.740) and (OR 0.15; 95%CI 0.047-0.507) respectively. The mean cord separation time among respondents who used chlorhexidine gel was 6.6±2.8 days, this was longer than those who used other substances (4.8±1.5 days).Conclusions: More respondents used aseptic cord care practices, however, a good number used a combination of septic and aseptic methods which could still pose a risk of infection to the neonate. There is need for health interventions to increase the awareness of mothers on using single aseptic cord care practices in order to prevent neonatal sepsis and mortality.