Is the WHO Guide on Essential Practice of Postpartum Newborn Care Used in a District Health Care Facility?
It is unclear whether algorithms with evidence-based interventions are used in a setting where the work load is high and qualified staff is scarce to identify neonates with life-threatening conditions.



The nurse-midwives' knowledge and opinion about the World Health Organization (WHO) guide on postpartum newborn care were assessed in a hospital in Tanzania before and after training. Their adherence to this guide was evaluated by analysing 100 neonatal records.



Before training, 44% of the nurse-midwives were familiar with the WHO guide. All nurse-midwives supported the implementation of the guide. In all, 21% of the postpartum record forms were fully completed. Risk factors for illness were missed in 27%.



Nurse-midwives' expertise in the WHO guide on postpartum newborn care cannot be taken for granted. The complexity of this guide demands expertise and makes its use time-consuming and thus its practicability disputable in a setting with limited resources.
Department of Paediatrics, St. Joseph's Mission Hospital, Peramiho, Ruvuma District, P.O.Box 19 Peramiho Tanzania Reinhard.Klinkott@klinikum-gap.de.|Department of Paediatrics, Klinikum Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 82467, Germany.
Reinhard
R
Klinkott
St. Joseph's Mission Hospital, Hospital Management, Peramiho, Ruvuma District, P.O.Box 19 Peramiho Tanzania.
Venance
V
Mushi
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, St. Joseph's Mission Hospital, Peramiho, Ruvuma District, P.O.Box 19 Peramiho Tanzania.
Gaudens
G
Komba
Department of Paediatrics, St. Franziskus Hospital, Ahlen 59227, Germany.
Carsten
C
Krüger
Centrum Für Internationale Migration Und Entwicklung, Gesellschaft Für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Eschborn 65760, Germany.
Andreas
A
Schultz
Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Mission Hospital, Wuerzburg 97074, Germany.
August
A
Stich
St. Joseph's Mission Hospital, Hospital Management, Peramiho, Ruvuma District, P.O.Box 19 Peramiho Tanzania.
Ansgar
A
Stüfe
Department of Child and Adolescent Health, World Health Organization, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark.
Martin
M
Weber
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Stephan
S
Ehrhardt
D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods*; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000193:education*; D049590:Postpartum Period; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses'; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013636:Tanzania; D014944:World Health Organization
algorithms; delivery of health care; midwifery; newborn; postpartum period; quality of health care