A STUDY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE ON NEONATAL HYPOTHERMIA AMONG POSTNATAL MOTHERS IN SELECTED HOSPITAL IN MANGALORE

Charitha C Lewis; Barikynti Shadap; Ann M Paul; Anni Philip; Anju M Anthony; Wilma S. Noronha

Volume : VIII, Issue : VI, June - 2019

A STUDY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE ON NEONATAL HYPOTHERMIA AMONG POSTNATAL MOTHERS IN SELECTED HOSPITAL IN MANGALORE

Charitha C Lewis, Barikynti Shadap, Ann M Paul, Anni Philip, Anju M Anthony, Wilma S. Noronha

Abstract :

Neonatal hypothermia is a contributing factor for neonatal morbidity and mortality. According to World Health Organization (WHO) hypothermia has been defined as body temperature below the normal range 36.5ºC – 37.5ºC and has been sub classified in to three grades: mild (36.0ºC–36.5ºC), moderate (32.0ºC–35.9ºC), and severe (< 32.0ºC).1 The aims of the study was to assess the knowledge and practice among postnatal mothers and to find the correlation and association of knowledge and practice with selected demographic variables. The study was conducted among 105 postnatal mothers at Father Muller Medical College Hospital in Mangalore. The samples were selected using a convenient sampling technique and the data was collected by using baseline proforma, structured knowledge questionnaire, self–reported practice checklist. The study findings shows that86.66% of the postnatal mothers had average knowledge, 12.38% had good knowledge and 0.95% had poor knowledge on neonatal hypothermia.Majority of the postnatal mothers i.e., 92.38% had adequate practice and 7.61% had inadequate practice on neonatal hypothermia. There is no significant correlation and association of knowledge and practice among postnatal mothers on neonatal hypothermia with selected demographic variables.