Prevention of Neonatal Sepsis among Mothers in Primary Healthcare Centres in Zaria, Kaduna State

Abstract

Neonatal sepsis is a major threat to the life of neonates and increase neonatal mortality; however, mothers have roles in its prevention through hand hygiene and umbilical cord care. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers towards prevention of neonatal sepsis in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Zaria. Descriptive survey design was adopted while data was collected from 260 mothers attending PHCs in Zaria through multistage sampling. The data obtained was analysed using SPSS version 23 and the result presented in frequency and distribution tables. The findings revealed that, the mothers of neonates attending PHCs in Zaria have knowledge on prevention of neonatal sepsis as 70.2% knew its meaning and its causes (61.5%), while 60.7% knows what umbilical care is. Additionally, 64.3% knew that methylated spirit and chlorhexidine are good to clean umbilical cord. Mothers showed a positive attitude (M: 2.8; SD: 0.8) towards prevention of neonatal sepsis and sometimes most of them practice the prevention of neonatal sepsis through cleaning of umbilical cord (65.4%), twice a day (68.3%), and sometime wash their hands (48.0%) before and after handling a baby. Nurse-midwives should lay more emphasis during antenatal clinic visit on the importance of hand washing and keeping the umbilical cord clean to prevent neonatal sepsis.