Abstract
The neonatal period is a critical period of childhood carrying the highest risk of mortality per day than any other period during the childhood. In Nepal, a country where a neonatal mortality rate is high, raising awareness among fathers regarding newborn danger signs is crucial. This research aims to measure the awareness of fathers regarding newborn danger signs. A hospital based cross sectional descriptive study was done in maternity ward and birthing center of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) hospital. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select fathers of neonate. The study was conducted on 103 fathers having newborn baby up to 7 days admitted in Maternity Ward and Birthing Center. Respondents were selected without any discrimination of education, ethnicity, economical status, marital status, religion, etc. The findings of the study showed that out of 103 respondents, most of the respondents had moderate level of awareness (63.1%), 28.2% had low level and minority of the respondents had high level of awareness (8.7%). The researcher concluded that most of the respondents had a moderate level of awareness and minority of the respondents had a high level of awareness on newborn danger signs. The findings show greater need of health education to increase awareness about newborn danger signs among fathers.
Highlights
Neonatal morbidity and mortality are a global issue despite the variance in the prevalence in developed and developing nations [1]
This study in general concludes that fathers in general have moderate level of awareness regarding newborn danger signs
This study was conducted on maternity ward and birthing centre of a tertiary level hospital only so, the result may not be generalized to other areas of Nepal
Summary
Neonatal morbidity and mortality are a global issue despite the variance in the prevalence in developed and developing nations [1]. Children face the highest risk of dying in their first month of life at an average global rate of 18 deaths per 1000 live births in 2017. In 2018, 40% of all under-5 deaths occur within the first month of life and half of these within the first few days of life [3]. More than half of neonatal deaths have occurred within the first day of life 57% [4]. Late neonatal deaths (7 - 27 days) account for the remaining 21% [5] [6] [7] Many of these deaths are related to late recognition of neonatal illness, delays in decision to seek care at household level and subsequent late intervention at healthcare facilities [8] [9] [10]. Poor feeding and care practices after birth, lack of awareness on recognition of danger signs of illnesses (which are often subtle) further decrease their chances of survival and/or increase their chance of growing in a undernourished growth trajectory in and beyond this period [11] [12]
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