TITLE:
Knowledge and Practices of Neonatal Resuscitation by Health Providers in Côte d’Ivoire
AUTHORS:
Cisse Lassina, Joseph Gnegneri Ouattara, Kouadio Vincent Asse, Line Couitchere, Jacob Enoh, Kouadio Richard Azagoh, Jean-Jacques Attebi, Soumahoho Oulai
KEYWORDS:
Knowledge, Midwives, Neonatal Resuscitation, Practice
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.7 No.3,
August
8,
2017
ABSTRACT: Cote d’Ivoire ranks third among African countries with the highest neonatal
mortality rate (38‰). Perinatal asphyxia is one of the major causes of neonatal
mortality. In its severe form, it imposes an efficient neonatal resuscitation
in the birth room. This can only be done when the proven competence of the
staff in charge of the newborn and the availability of the appropriate equipment
are met. What is the situation in the birth facilities of these two challenges
for the response to the high rate of neonatal mortality in Cote d’Ivoire?
Method: It is a cross-sectional study, which took place from March 28 to July
28, 2016, in three health districts of Cote d’Ivoire (Bouaké, Gagnoa, Yopougon).
Public health structures offering delivery activities were selected. Based
on a fact sheet, the practitioners present have been interviewed and a direct
observation of the organization and equipment set up to perform neonatal
resuscitation in the birth room has been done. In addition, an observation
grid made it possible to evaluate the practical skills of providers in neonatal
resuscitation on a newborn mannequin. The data were entered using the
Epi-Info 7 software. Based on the data collected, we determined the numbers
and frequencies of the responses of the target agents of the survey. Results:
The membership structures included 46 first contact health facilities (FCHFs)
and 4 reference hospitals (HRs). The heating system, mucus suction, oxygen,
timers and self-inflating balloons were available in HR and in six, eight, four,
34 and 10 FCHFs respectively. The 253 midwives surveyed came from Bouaké
(86), Gagnoa (62) and Yopougon (105). They had a seniority of at least eight
years. Their knowledge for newborns’ care was acquired in initial training
(75% of cases). They knew the golden minute in 95.6% of the cases. Inadequacies
in the recognition of risk situations, useful equipment and in the execution of neonatal resuscitation steps were noted. Conclusion: The survival of
the newborn is still very worrying in Cote d’Ivoire. An analysis of the results
of this survey shows that many challenges remain not only at the structural
level but also at the level of quality of care.