Received: 12 Aug, 2008 Accepted: 28 Jan, 2009

  Abstract:

 Background & Aims: m ortality rate of newborns accounts for 18.3 per 1000 live birth that comprised 69% of IMR and 56% of under 5 mortality in Iran. A comparison of statistical trend between infant and newborn mortality rate from 1988 to 2001 revealed a considerable decrease in IMR but slightly decrease in NMR. In a series of studies it has been proposed that training neonatal’s mothers is effective in prevention of neonatal mortality rate.

  t his study has been carried out for assessing the knowledge of mothers in different fields of neonatal care and role of some associated factors in r asht.

 Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, from target population of mothers with hospitalized infants in Rasht, a sample was chosen with convenient s ampling method. Then a questionnaire consisting of questions regarding to the different field of neonatal care was completed by mothers at the presence of researchers. Finally the score were given to the correct or wrong answers and then the knowledge score of each mother was calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS 11. T- Test and ANOVA were used for analyzing the relationship. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

 Results: 450 mothers with mean age of 26.56 were studies. The mean score of knowledge relating to the icterus infants, umbilical cord and general care of infants were 54.88%, 25.11%, and 46.09% respectively. 16.7% of mothers had poor knowledge, 71.3% moderate and 12% had good knowledge. Mother’s age of 18-35 years living in town, higher level of education, having a job and mothers with more than 3 pregnancies had significantly higher level of knowledge.

 Conclusion: The result shows that knowledge levels of 71.3% of mothers are moderate. So it is imperative to provide comprehensive training in the field of newborn and infant care for mothers.

  Keyword : Mothers, Knowledge, Infant care

  Address : 17 Shahrivar Hospital, Namjo St, Rasht, Iran. Tel: (+98)0914 447 8494

  Email : rsharafi@gums.ac.ir

  Source : UMJ 2009: 20(1): 078 ISSN: 1027-3727