title: Newborn Care Practices in Urban Slums of Lucknow City, UP.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the knowledge and practices related to newborn care in urban slums of Lucknow city, UP, and to identify critical behaviors, practices, and barriers that influence the survival of newborns.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study in urban slums of Lucknow city, UP, included 524 women who had a live birth during last 1 year preceding data collection. Data were analyzed using statistical software SPSS 10.0 for windows.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Study findings showed that about half of the deliveries took place at home. Majority (77.1%) of the mothers believed that baby should be bathed with warm water and dried with clean cloth and 79.7% mothers practiced it. Only 36.6% mothers initiated breast-feeding within 1 h of birth and 30.2% initiated after 1 day. The mothers who have not given colostrum to their baby, in majority the reason was customs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In majority of cases, correct knowledge and correct practices regarding newborn care were lacking among mothers and this should be promoted through improved coverage with existing health services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Era's Lucknow Medical College, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Pratibha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Vk
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Vishwajeet
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Savita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Masood
authors.forename: Naim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Jp
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Srivastava