Neonatal care practiced by the mothers in Muslim-communities in Birgunj Metropolitan city, Parsa, Nepal

Neonatal period is the most vulnerable period of the survival of the child, so good neonatal care practices is crucial for the prevention of morbidity and mortality of a neonate. Descriptive cross-sectional study design with 219 Muslim women having less than 1year old babies were selected by probability sampling technique to find out the neonatal care practices. A semi-structured interview schedule was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Early marriage and illiteracy is common in these Muslim communities. Only around half (49.8%) of mothers had sufficient neonatal care practice. However, there is good eye care practice in those communities. All of the mothers practiced oil massage to their babies once or more than one time in a day. Regarding breastfeeding, more than four fifth (83.87%) of mothers fed exclusively to their newborn; 13.24% mothers had home deliveries, among them 75.85% of deliveries were assisted by unskilled personnel. The significant association was found between level of neonatal care practice and age of mother (p-value 0.024). Likewise, mother’s education is also associated with the feeding of colostrum (p-value 0.038). Insufficient neonatal care practiced was predominant among mothers of those Muslim communities so there is need for strengthening community awareness by mobilizing female community health volunteers (FCHVs). Home delivery by unskilled personnel is very common so they should be motivated for institutional delivery and completion of the recommended antenatal visits