Assess the knowledge, stated practices, and health-seeking behavior regarding home care of low birth weight babies among their mothers, in pediatric outpatient department in a selected hospital, West Bengal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71152/ajms.v16i10.4710Keywords:
Mothers of low birth weight baby; Home care; Knowledge; Health-seeking behaviorAbstract
Background: Low birth weight (LBW) babies have a high risk of infection, developmental delay, and death during infancy. Home care of LBW babies by their mothers is an essential part of care.
Aims and Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, stated practices, and health-seeking behavior of mothers of LBW babies regarding home care and to find out the correlation between the level of knowledge and health-seeking behavior regarding home care of LBW babies.
Materials and Methods: The data were collected from 100 mothers, attending at pediatric outpatient department of NRS Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, from March 6, 2023, to March 31, 2023, through the semi-structured and structured interview schedule, and they were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. The ages of the babies were 0–6 months.
Results: This study showed 69% mothers of LBW babies had moderate knowledge, 18% mothers’ knowledge score was poor, 13% mothers’ knowledge was good, 65% mothers stated practices score was average, 21% stated practices score of mothers was poor, 14% stated practices of mother was good and majority 75% Mothers’ health-seeking behavior was moderate and 8% mothers’ behavior was low.
Conclusion: The educational program to be organized for the prevention of LBW babies and improve the knowledge of mothers of LBW babies, and to reduce the prevalence of LBW babies, mortality, and morbidity.
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