Assessment of knowledge and practice of gynecology/obstetrics residents and midwives towards essential newborn care At Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: A time-bound and chronologically ordered series of medical interventions that a baby receives at birth are referred to as the "essential newborn protocol." This period of immediate care is critical for the babies' subsequent well-being and adaptation. However, there are still reports of health workers lacking good knowledge and practice with newborn care, which was not investigated in our hospital.

Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in TASH with 114 selected gynecology and obstetrics residents and midwives. Using the SPSS version 25 software package, continuous data were described using the mean and standard deviation, while categorical data were de-scribed using frequency and percentage. To identify factors related to knowledge and practice, multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were used.

Result: Eighty-eight residents and 26 midwives were included. Nearly a quarter (24.6%) of participants had good knowledge about essential newborn care. Regarding knowledge level by profession, 31.8% of the residents had good knowledge of essential newborn care, and all the midwives had poor knowledge. The odds of having good knowledge of ENC were 96.3% lower for first-year residents and 90.5% lower for second-year residents as compared to year four. Untrained participants had an 84 percent lower chance of having good knowledge of essential newborn care than trained participants. Regarding practice level by profession, more than two-thirds of 68 (77.3%) residents and 21 (80.8%) midwives had sufficient skill in essential newborn care.

Conclusion: A substantial number of healthcare providers lacked essential newborn care knowledge and practice. The availability of service or on-the-job training, as well as the year of residency, were factors influencing newborn care knowledge. In-service training, encouraging supervision, and provisions should be reinforced to improve newborn care activities.