title: Home care practices for newborns in rural southern Nepal during the first 2 weeks of life.
abstract: The provision of essential newborn care through integrated packages is essential to improving survival. We analyzed data on newborn care practices collected among infants who participated in a community-based trial in rural Nepal. Analysis focused on feeding, hygienic, skin/cord care and thermal care practices. Data were analyzed for 23,356 and 22,766 newborns on Days 1 and 14, respectively. About 56.6% of the babies were breastfed within 24 h and 80.4% received pre-lacteal feeds within the first 2 weeks of life. Only 13.3% of the caretakers always washed their hands before caring for their infant. Massage with mustard oil was near universal, 82.2% of the babies slept in a warmed room and skin-to-skin contact was rare (4.5%). Many of these commonly practiced behaviors are detrimental to the health and survival of newborns. Key areas to be addressed when designing a community-endorsed care package were identified.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Dominique J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Karas
authors.forename: Luke C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mullany
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Subarna K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Khatry
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: LeClerq
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Darmstadt
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tielsch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006361:Heating; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene / Q000592:standards; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009390:Nepal; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D017592:Skin Care / Q000379:methods*; D014470:Umbilical Cord