Mothers experience on neonatal danger signs and associated factors in northwest Ethiopia: community based cross-sectional study

Introduction: even though there is a significant decline in neonatal mortality globally, it remained unacceptably high in Ethiopia. The estimated experience of neonatal danger signs affects the outcome more than the perceived knowledge. The main aim of this study was to estimate the experience of mothers on neonatal danger signs and its associated factors in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: a community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 6-16, 2019. All the women who have delivered live birth in the past six months in three districts of Northwest Ethiopia were the source populations. A total of 2424 mothers were selected using two-stage stratified cluster random sampling technique. A pretested and semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from eligible mothers. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify independent factors that affected mother's experiences about neonatal danger signs at a p-value of 5%. Results: in this study, 2335 (96.3%) mothers completed the interview and 1509 (64.6%) of them have mentioned at least one danger sign. However, only 160 (11.0%) mothers have experienced danger signs in their babies. Of these, about 54 (49.1%) mothers have noticed within 24 hours of delivery and 37 (33.6%) have noticed after 48 hours of delivery. Fifty (45.5%) mothers have noticed the danger signs at home after birth, and 48 (43.6%) have noticed during birth. The frequently reported danger signs were; baby feels hot 106 (66.3%), fast breathing 67(41.9%), and difficulty of breathing 61(38.1%). Mothers who are living in urban, AOR=1.8(95%CI: 1.04,3.0), having multiple pregnancy, AOR=9.8 (95%CI: 2.3,42.0), absence of obstetric danger signs or complication, AOR=0.4 (95%CI: 0.2,0.6), post-term gestational age, AOR=6.5 (95%CI: 2.1,19.5), preterm gestational age, AOR=3.3 (95%CI: 0.8,13.4), assessment by hospital staff during delivery, AOR=2.1 (95% CI: 1.01,4.3), and poor mothers knowledge on neonatal danger signs, AOR=0.7 (95% CI: 0.5,0.9) were the predictors of mothers experience on neonatal danger signs. Conclusion: even though the knowledge of mothers on neonatal danger signs is high, the practice or experience in using their knowledge is very low. We recommend an implementation study to be conducted to bridge this "know-do" gap.