Knowledge, traditional beliefs and management practices of neonatal jaundice among antenatal women

Objectives To assess knowledge and identify traditional beliefs and practices related to neonatal jaundice among expectant mothers. Material and Methods The cross-sectional descriptive design was used among 238 expectant mothers selected using simple random sampling at the Poly General Hospital, Asata, Enugu State. A validated researcher-developed questionnaire with a coefficient of reliability of 0.86 was the instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, were used to summarize the data. Chi-square and independent sample t-test inferential statistics were utilized to test hypotheses at a significance level of 5%. Results The majority of the respondents (93.6%) showed poor knowledge of neonatal jaundice. A higher number of respondents believe that neonatal jaundice can cause serious consequences if managed traditionally (2.97±0.65). However, exposing the newborn to sunlight (79.2%) and using glucose (67.8%) to treat neonatal jaundice have been the major traditional practices. Inferential statistical analysis revealed that knowledge of neonatal jaundice was associated with level of academic attainment ( p = 0.031), while no association was found between knowledge of neonatal jaundice and practice ( p = 0.156) or belief ( p = 0.955). Conclusion Following the poor knowledge of neonatal jaundice identified in this study, antenatal women should be adequately enlightened on neonatal jaundice, especially its causes, effective treatment, and complications.