Medpedia Podcast. Apps Newsletter Abo-Shop. Springer Medizin. Suche Suchbegriffe eingeben Suchen. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. Abstract Background Four million neonatal deaths are estimated to occur each year and almost all in low income countries, especially among the poorest.
There is a paucity of data on newborn health from sub-Saharan Africa and few studies have assessed inequity in uptake of newborn care practices. We assessed socioeconomic differences in use of newborn care practices in order to inform policy and programming in Uganda.
Households were stratified into quintiles of socioeconomic status SES. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify determinants of each dichotomised composite outcome. Results There were low levels of coverage of newborn care practices among both the poorest and the least poor. SES and place of birth were not associated with any of the composite newborn care practices. Multiparous mothers were less likely to have safe cord practices OR 0. Conclusion Newborn care practices in this setting are low and do not differ much by socioeconomic group.
Despite being established policy, most neonatal interventions are not reaching newborns, suggesting a "policy-to-practice gap". To improve newborn survival, newborn care should be integrated into the current maternal and child interventions, and should be implemented at both community and health facility level as part of a universal coverage strategy.
Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. PW supervised the field work, and led the analysis and drafting of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript. Background In low income countries LICs , progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 4 - to reduce by two-thirds under-5 mortality from the baseline - is being hampered by slow progress in reducing neonatal death [ 1 ].
