Maternal literacy for better preterm neonatal outcome: An interventional study

Abstract

Introduction: Every year neonatal mortality contributes 46% to the child mortality worldwide. Preterm new-born care at home seems challenging, the short term memory may not recall the essential care component when required. In this study we have developed and tested effectiveness of printed educational material as health literacy tool for essential preterm care at home. Methodology: Analytical study to find effect of health literacy on neonatal health outcomes was carried on 116 mothers of preterm neonates that was followed up for three months at a tertiary care teaching hospital located at coastal Karnataka, India. The participants were randomly divided into intervention and control group where oral instructions to provide care at home was given to both the groups. Intervention group received added printed educational material that was explained using teach back technique. The Chi-square test and student-t test was used to find any effect of health literacy on neonatal care at home. Results: The health literacy had a significant influence over the care given to the preterm babies, at home as compared with control group (t_(92)=-7.089, p＜0.001). Intervention group (86%) practiced breastfeeding alone, without formula milk as compared to control group (50%). Kangaroo mother care and hand hygiene practices were better followed by interventional group (84%) as compared to controls (50%). Intervention group was better confident (77%) providing care at home as compared to control (58%). We did not find any association between educational status and the mothers' knowledge (X^2 _((1)) = 0.336, p=0.562). Conclusion: Maternal health literacy is a cost effective tool to improving the intact survival rate of premature babies in a resource limited settings like India. It empowers mother to enjoy motherhood rather being scared of providing preterm care at home.