EVALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE, AWARENESS AND IMPLEMENTATION GAP OF HOMEBASED NEWBORN CARE AMONG ASHA WORKERS AND MOTHERS IN RURAL AREAS OF AMRITSAR, PUNJAB

Abstract

Background: India contributes to 17.5% of the world's population, nearly 20% of the total live births, in spite of signicant steps that have been taken to reduce child and neonatal mortality, yet accounts for 26% of global neonate deaths. India has witnessed a signicant reduction in the number of neonatal deaths - from 1.35 million in 1990, to around 0.76 million in 2012. In an attempt to address the issue of high neonatal mortality, Government of India issued Home Based Newborn Care (HBNC) guidelines in 2011; and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers were mobilized for providing maternal and immediate newborn care. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural areas of Amritsar District. The duration of study was 1 year (January 2020 to December 2020) and data was collected using a predesigned pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Total 400 subjects were recruited in the study in which 200 ASHA workers and 200 mothers were included.20-30 ASHA workers who had completed their NRHM training were selected from each block randomly. 20-30 mothers from each block of Amritsar were selected randomly. Results: In this cross-sectional study, 90% ASHA workers had knowledge on weighing, temperature measurement (78%), feeding frequency (63%), handwashing (2%) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) positioning (12%) . Majority of ASHAs had knowledge about danger signs like bleeding stump (95%) ,distended abdomen (75%), fever (69.5%), chest indrawing (61.5%) and lethargy (35%).The study concluded that 54% of ASHA workers provided average quality and 46% ASHAs provided good quality care of newborn care. Out of 200 mothers, 74.5% mothers were aware of frequency of feeding, initiation of breastfeeding (32%), proper positioning of breastfeeding and attachment (21%), urine and stool frequency (44%), danger signs for which they should seek help (41%), temperature assessment (59%) and Kangaroo Mother Care positioning (2%). Conclusion: Present study concluded that majority of newborns get all the age-appropriate home visits but very less mothers had knowledge and awareness about HBNC provision.