Abstract:
Background: Neonates are more prone to show subtle signs of illness. Most infants are either born at
home or are discharged from the health facility early, families should be able to recognize signs of
newborn illnesses and bring the newborn infant to the attention of a health worker. For too many babies,
their day of birth is also their day of death. In the world almost 1 million neonatal deaths occur on the
day of birth, and close to 2 million die in the first week of life. In order to decrease this mortality, it is
crucial to ensure that every newborn has access to and receives care and life-saving interventions.
Objective: To assess mothers’ knowledge and practice about neonatal danger sign and associated
factors in wolkite town, gurage zone, South nation nationality peoples region, Ethiopia, 2017.
Methods: Community based cross sectional study design was carried out in wolkite town from March to
April, 2017. A total of 368 mothers who gave birth within 12 months prior to the study period were
selected by using systematic random sampling technique. Pretested Structured questionnaire was used to
collect data. Data was entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported into statistical package for social
science version 21 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression model was used for
identifying statistically significant associations between dependent and independent variables.
Result: In this study, 31.32% of mothers have good knowledge about neonatal danger sign. From a total
of mothers, 64.5% respondents’ practice for their sick neonate was unsafe. Mothers secondary and above
educational level (AOR= 1.21, CI 0.049, 0.677), income (AOR= 0.44, CI 0.201, 0.964), place of birth
(AOR= 1.867, CI 1.102, 3.164) and source of information (AOR= 0.173, CI 0.034, 0.875) were factors
for having good knowledge. Husbands’ educational level (AOR= 0.183, CI 0.049, 0.677), husbands’
occupation (AOR= 0.132, CI 0.032, 0.543), place of delivery (AOR=6.45, CI 2.617, 7.185) and PNC
follow up (AOR= 6.19, CI 1.070, 5.626) were factors that contribute for mothers to bring their sick
neonate to health institution.
Conclusion and recommendation: There was poor knowledge of mothers towards neonatal danger
signs and unsafe practice. Town health office, NGOs and health workers should collaborate to create
awareness about neonatal danger sign in the community.
