Newborn care practices at home and in health facilities in four regions of Ethiopia

Publish Date: January 2014
Author: Jennifer A Callaghan-Koru, Abiy Seifu, Maya Tholandi, Joseph de Graft-Johnson, Ephrem Daniel, Barbara Rawlins, Bogale Worku, Abdullah H Baqui
Language: English

This article, co-authored by MCHIP staff and published in the journal BMC Pediatrics, describes newborn care practices reported by recently delivered women in four regions of Ethiopia based on results of a household survey among women who delivered a live baby in the period one to seven months prior to data collection.

Survey results suggest that there are not large differences for most essential newborn care indicators between facility and home deliveries, with the exception of delayed bathing and skin-to-skin care. The authors conclude that improving newborn care and newborn health outcomes in Ethiopia will likely require a multifaceted approach.

Given the low rates of facility delivery, community-based promotion of preventive newborn care practices, which has been effective in other settings, is an important strategy. For this strategy to be successful, the coverage of counseling delivered by health extension workers and other community volunteers should be increased.

To read the abstract, or to download the full article, click here.