Abstract
Introduction The newborn life support (NLS) is a set of educational guidelines established by the academies of Paediatrics that outline the proper procedures for resuscitation of a newborn. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge on NLS among the healthcare providers (HCPs) in a tertiary care maternity hospital in the Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out among doctors, nurses, and midwives, using a self-administered questionnaire. Comparison of knowledge among different categories was made using the chi-square test. Total sample of 191 consisted of 118 (61.8%) nurses, 33 (17.3%) midwives, and 36 (18.8%) doctors. The majority of HCPs (76.7%) had good knowledge of NLS; however, following guidelines on NLS among HCPs was poor (33%). According to the category, 91% of doctors and 78% of nurses had good knowledge, whereas only 48% of midwives had good knowledge. The difference of knowledge on NLS among different categories of HCPs was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Only 33% of HCPs had good knowledge of following NLS guidelines. Of them, 52% were doctors, 31% were nurses, and only 18% were midwives. The difference in adherence to NLS guidelines among different categories of HCPs was highly significant statistically (p=0.003). Conclusion The majority of the healthcare providers had good knowledge of NLS. There was a significant difference in the level of knowledge on NLS among different categories of HCPs. Gaps in the knowledge in following guidelines of NLS were noted in the majority. Newborn resuscitation has to be included in nursing and midwifery curricula, and training on NLS is essential in the orientation programs for newly recruited HCPs in maternity hospitals.
Highlights
Effective newborn resuscitation is essential for reducing the adverse outcomes of birth asphyxia [1]
Midwives and nurses are the first to come in contact with a newborn in the delivery suite. erefore, assessing the knowledge among them and the doctors is important in improving neonatal care. e findings of this study could be used to identify the gaps in the knowledge of healthcare providers (HCPs) on newborn life support (NLS)
Training on NLS. e HCPs in the study sample were exposed to different training levels on newborn resuscitation, which are listed in Table 2. e majority (90%) of HCPs had been exposed to some form of training on newborn resuscitation
Summary
Effective newborn resuscitation is essential for reducing the adverse outcomes of birth asphyxia [1]. Most newborn deaths are associated with birth asphyxia (40%), low birth weight and prematurity (25%), and infections (20%) [2]. E global average contribution of neonatal mortality to under-five mortality is 47%, of which 11% accounts for perinatal asphyxia [3]. In Sri Lanka, the neonatal mortality rate has declined to 7/1000 live births by 2019 [5]. It accounts for over 70% of under-five mortalities of our children [6]. It has been shown that providing basic training on resuscitation of newborns can decrease neonatal deaths [1]. In the US, the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) is the primary educational mechanism used to teach healthcare providers (HCPs) to perform neonatal resuscitation [9]. e goal of the NRP is to help neonatal care providers (NCPs)
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