POSTPARTUM MOTHERS’ KNOWLEDGE REGARDING NEWBORN CARE PRACTICES IN KIRKUK GOVERNORATE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background and objectives
Newborn care is the care that is provided to the baby from birth to one-month-old by a caregiver or by the mother. The optimal development of a newborn is dependent on the health and development of the growing process particularly during the first month of a baby's life, which Is considered the most critical period. This study aimed to assess and compare the urban and rural postpartum mothers’ knowledge regarding newborn care practices in Kirkuk governorate.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional study conducted from October 22, 2023, to March 20, 2024, at the primary health care centers in Kirkuk governorate. A purposive sample of 400 postpartum mothers (divided into 200 mothers for each urban and rural). The mothers were selected from 18 primary health care centers in Kirkuk governorate according to the multistage cluster sampling technique. Data were collected using an interview-structured questionnaire, which consisted of two parts; the first part included socio-demographic and obstetric variables such as maternal age, educational level, economic status, occupation, type of family, age of child, as well as parity, place of birth, antenatal visits and number of visits. The second part related to postpartum mothers' knowledge of practices regarding newborn care consisted of six items (Danger signs, immunization, breastfeeding, eye care, thermoregulation, and cord care). Data entry and analysis were performed using SPSS (version 26). Data was reported as frequency and percentage, the Chi-square test and Fisher exact test were used for categorical variables. significance level was considered at (P<0.05).
Results
Of 400 postpartum mothers, 116(77.9%) of urban mothers had high knowledge regarding newborn care practices compared to 99(77.3%) of rural mothers having poor knowledge. A highly significant association was found between urban and rural postpartum mothers’ knowledge of practices, with urban mothers having higher knowledge compared to rural mothers at (P <0.001). In addition, a highly significant association was found between urban and rural postpartum mothers’ knowledge of practices and some socio-demographic and obstetric variables such as(maternal age, educational level, economic status, mother's occupation, and antenatal visit.
Conclusions
knowledge of practices regarding newborn care was high among urban postpartum mothers compared to poor knowledge of practices among rural postpartum mothers in Kirkuk governorate regarding the items (danger signs, immunization, eye care, thermoregulation, and cord care). However, both urban and rural postpartum mothers had poor knowledge regarding breastfeeding practices. This requires implementing regular educational programs and follow-up of postpartum mothers by health providers in the care centers to promote the mothers’ knowledge regarding newborn care practices, in specific the mothers in rural areas.