Knowledge, awareness, and practice of postnatal care among mothers

Abstract

Objective: The objective was to study the knowledge, awareness, and practices regarding the postnatal care among the mothers. Design and Setting: A pre-structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to evaluate knowledge and awareness of postnatal care in mothers at a tertiary care center. The questionnaire was given after stabilization between 1 and 5 days of the postnatal period. Materials and Methods: Totally, 200 postnatal mothers (18-35 years) out of 540 mothers who were given antenatal and postnatal education in our antenatal care center were selected. Study Period: June 2013-September 2013. Results: Knowledge of mothers
regarding breastfeeding practices (78%), thermal care (89%), skin and eye care (72%) was good. They have poor knowledge regarding dangers of pre-lacteal feeds (45%), timing of first bath after birth (60%), umbilical cord care (60%), and vaccination (36%). About 32% of them are practicing oil instillation into nostrils while 44% of mothers were intended to use gripe water for infantile colic. Conclusion: The study highlights that there is vital need to improve the knowledge and awareness in the society regarding communitybased newborn care. We should also strive toward helping removing myths and wrong practices, which are rampant in the community.