A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Knowledge and Practice of Infant Care among Primipara Mothers in Indira Gandhi Children Hospital at Bangalore

Abstract

Introduction: Infant health in India shows drastic figures. Delhi ranks 9th (out of 29 states) in infant mortality rate (IMR), it is a pathetic 19th in exclusive breastfeeding (that is, only 34.5% of women breastfeed exclusively for 6 months) and 22nd in initiating breastfeeding within the first 1h. Only 29.9% of children in Delhi are given Oral rehydration salt during diarrhea. Rajasthan – though governed by a woman – ranks 22nd in IMR and nearly bottom of the heap when it comes to immunization while Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is ranked 14th in IMR. Each of the five states going to elections now – J&K, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, and Rajasthan – fare dismally in critical infant health elements such as breastfeeding rates, immunization, and ORS use in diarrhea. These facts have been highlighted in the report cards published by Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India on the state of infant health in the country. Method: This was an experimental study; total 40 subjects were selected through non-probability convenient sampling technique. Exploratory design was used. Data was collected by structured interview technique. Data was collected under the two sections (socio-demographic data, knowledge questionnaire and practice checklist). The reliability of the tool was established by split half method formula. The reliability result of knowledge was r=0.904, prepared a structured teaching programme regarding infant care. Result: In pre-test, 16 (40%) of the primipara mothers had an average knowledge and remaining 24(60%) had low knowledge. Post-test scores compared to pre-test scores showed an observable increase in the knowledge of primipara mothers as 12 (30%) of them had high knowledge and remaining 28(70%) had average knowledge. The mean of knowledge score in pre-test was increased from 16.2 ± 2.85 to 22.45 ± 2.13 in post-test.