Abstract:
Background: Tanzania is among the Sub-Saharan country in Africa with high rates of
neonatal mortality. Neonatal deaths occur due to obstetric and newborn complications and
mainly due to limited access to essential newborn care (ENC) services which every
newborn needs to receive for survival. ENC prevents greatly the newborn morbidity and
mortality. Regardless of its importance, ENC has been neglected in low and middleincome
countries.
Aim: The aim of this study was to assess factors associated with knowledge and practice
of essential newborn care among Nurse-Midwives at referral hospitals in Dar es Salaam.
Methods: This was descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Temeke, Amana and
Mwananyamala regional hospitals in Dar es Salaam. An interview administered
questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis was done with help of Stata version
13.0. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were employed to determine associations
between independent variables and study outcomes. A (95%) confidence index was used to
measure statistical association.
Results: The mean age of the 112 nurse-midwives who participated in this study was 36.4
years with standard deviation of 8.2 years. Overall, 53% of nurse midwives had adequate
knowledge of essential newborn Care (ENC) and 56% had adequate practice of ENC.
Factors associated with knowledge of ENC among Nurse-Midwives included availability
of ENC guidelines [AOR=11.69, 95%CI: (1.81-75.61), P=0.010] and regular training of
ENC [AOR=4.04; 95%CI: (1.40-11.64), P=0.010]. However, in the multivariate analysis,
on job training on ENC in the past two years [AOR=2.99, 95%CI: (1.11-8.10), P=0.031]
and availability of ENC guidelines had strong association with ENC practice [AOR=3.78,
95%CI (0.67-21.47), P=0.133].
Conclusion: Findings of this study showed that on-job training and availability of ENC
guidelines were significantly associated with knowledge and practice of ENC. Other
factors which had positive association with provision of ENC were high education level,
greater age, working in labour ward and obstetrics theatre. To ensure effective provision of
ENC by Nurse-Midwives, Ministry of health in collaboration with health facilities should
ensure availability of ENC guidelines to facilitate provision of ENC and conduct regular
training of ENC to improve knowledge and practice of ENC among Nurse-Midwives.
