Abstract
BackgroundThere was less than satisfactory progress, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, towards child and maternal mortality targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. The main aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and determinants of essential new newborn care practices in the Lawra District of Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in June 2014 on a sample of 422 lactating mothers and their children aged between 1 and 12 months. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants who attended post-natal clinic in the Lawra district hospital.ResultsOf the 418 newborns, only 36.8% (154) was judged to have had safe cord care, 34.9% (146) optimal thermal care, and 73.7% (308) were considered to have had adequate neonatal feeding. The overall prevalence of adequate new born care comprising good cord care, optimal thermal care and good neonatal feeding practices was only 15.8%.Mothers who attained at least Senior High Secondary School were 20.5 times more likely to provide optimal thermal care [AOR 22.54; 95% CI (2.60–162.12)], compared to women had no formal education at all. Women who received adequate ANC services were 4.0 times (AOR = 4.04 [CI: 1.53, 10.66]) and 1.9 times (AOR = 1.90 [CI: 1.01, 3.61]) more likely to provide safe cord care and good neonatal feeding as compared to their counterparts who did not get adequate ANC. However, adequate ANC services was unrelated to optimal thermal care.Compared to women who delivered at home, women who delivered their index baby in a health facility were 5.6 times more likely of having safe cord care for their babies (AOR = 5.60, Cl: 1.19–23.30), p = 0.03.ConclusionsThe coverage of essential newborn care practices was generally low. Essential newborn care practices were positively associated with high maternal educational attainment, adequate utilization of antenatal care services and high maternal knowledge of newborn danger signs. Therefore, greater improvement in essential newborn care practices could be attained through proven low-cost interventions such as effective ANC services, health and nutrition education that should span from community to health facility levels.
Highlights
There was less than satisfactory progress, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, towards child and maternal mortality targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5
The findings show that good neonatal feeding practices, optimal thermal care and good cord care were commonly adopted among women aged 25–34 years, women who had adequate antenatal care (ANC) attendance, and those who could mention at least 4 danger signs of the newborn (Tables 4, 5, 6)
The analysis from this study showed that the expected essential newborn care practices are not getting to a greater proportion of the newborns
Summary
There was less than satisfactory progress, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, towards child and maternal mortality targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. Many countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa were unable to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. Many countries are reported to have made little or no progress towards the child survival target, and that some countries in sub-Saharan Africa had even witnessed a deterioration in child survival rates [1]. Suboptimal newborn care practices still persist and neonatal mortality rates have been resistant to change and contribute about 40% of all under-five deaths world-wide [2]. Though there has been a decline of 29% in neonatal mortality since 1993 in Ghana, the decrease was at a slower pace than infant and child mortality. The contribution of neonatal deaths to infant deaths had increased from 53% in 1998 to 71% in 2014 [3]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
