Published Paper Details:

Neonatal jaundice is very common and is present in 60% of term babies and up to 80% of premature babies. The jaundice usually appears between 24 and 72 hours of age and increases to its peak value after the baby has been discharged. Thus, early discharge of a new-born after delivery places the responsibility of detecting jaundice usually on the parents when follow-up in hospital is not feasible due to limited access to health care or infrequent home visits by a health-care worker. However, the ability of mothers to correctly detect jaundice in their new-borns is largely unknown. Therefore, to ascertain the ability of mothers to correctly detect significant jaundice in new-born is very necessary. Nurses are the healthcare professionals who have the most contact with new mothers. Improving mothers' knowledge will help with early recognition of Neonatal jaundice, prompt and appropriate intervention. This study highlights effects of educational intervention on knowledge regarding care of neonatal jaundice among postnatal mothers admitted in hospitals. Objectives of the Study 1. To identify the knowledge regarding care of neonatal jaundice among mothers of preterm babies. 2. To assess the effect of educational intervention on knowledge regarding care of neonatal jaundice among mothers of preterm babies. 3. To find out association between the level of knowledge with demographic variables. Materials and method An evaluative study with Pre- experimental one-group pre-test post-test design was used to assess the effect of educational intervention on knowledge regarding care of neonatal jaundice among mothers of preterm babies admitted in selected hospitals. 60 samples were taken using Non Probability Convenient Sampling from selected hospitals. The data was collected using self-structured demographic data and self-structured knowledge questioner. Results: Descriptive and inferential statistics are used for analysis of the data. Researcher applied paired t-test for the effect of educational intervention on knowledge regarding care of neonatal jaundice among mothers of preterm babies. Average knowledge score in pre-test was 4.6 which increased to 16.1 in post-test. T-value for this test was 32.7 with 59 degrees of freedom. Corresponding p-value was small (less than 0.05), null hypothesis is rejected. It is evident that the knowledge among the mothers of preterm babies improved significantly after educational intervention. Conclusion: Neonatal jaundice is the most common condition requiring medical attention in the 1st week of life and almost 60% of term neonates and almost 80% of preterm neonates develop jaundice. Since p-value was small (less than 0.05), null hypothesis is rejected. It is evident that the knowledge among the mothers of preterm babies improved significantly after educational intervention.