title: Parent and caregiver perspectives on home-based newborn care in low-income settings: protocol for a systematic review of qualitative studies.
abstract: Newborn health and survival are closely linked to essential newborn care provided within the first days and weeks of an infant's life by parents and caregivers at home and within the community. Newborn care practices are often socially and culturally determined and have been explored in qualitative and formative research related to improving neonatal survival. We aim to provide a comprehensive review of qualitative studies on parent and caregiver experiences of newborn care practices with a view to identifying barriers and facilitators that may impact on newborn health. The rationale is that providing this information will be useful for intervention design and programme scale up for newborn survival.
  
  
  
  We will systematically review qualitative studies reporting on newborn care practices. The Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research (ENTREQ) statement will be used for reporting the stages of the review and dissemination. The search period will include all studies published from 2006 to 2016. Study selection will incorporate the ENTREQ and Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and quality assessment will be completed using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) guidelines. Pending the identification of sufficient data of good quality, we will conduct a full synthesis of the studies identified by the review.
  
  
  
  The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentation and directly to organisations involved in newborn health. Formal ethical approval from the author's institution is not required, as no primary data or identifying data will be collected.
  
  
  
  CRD42016035674.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Alessandra N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Bazzano
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Felker-Kantor
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Aiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaji
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saldanha
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010290:Parents; D011203:Poverty; D036301:Qualitative Research; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic
keywords: PAEDIATRICS; PERINATOLOGY; PUBLIC HEALTH; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH