1. INTRODUCTION:

“A mother is not a person to learn on but a person to make learning unnecessary” – Dorothy

Encouragement of mother infant bonding is a major consideration in postnatal management. Continuous access by the mother towards her premature infants facilitates the bonding process. Continuous psycho social support is important.

The low birth weight infant needs special care. The best environment for these infants is a special care unit where there is sufficient equipment and facilities to give adequate care. A large amount of work and planning still remains to be done in preparing nurseries for the special care of low weight infants and in deputing nurses for specialized training in this area. Adequate facilities as well as trained staff are essential if expert nursing care is given. Development is a continuous process from conception to maturity and is intimately related to maturity of central nervous system. The sequence of development is identical in all children but rate of development varies from child to child[5][6]. A milestone of development refers to the expected growth and development of children as compared with the norms. Every parent wants to know whether their child is developing normally, especially if it is a precious pregnancy or there had been a miscarriage or still birth or if the child provides as to be mentally or physically handicapped. Developmental assessment provides vital information to decide on the intervention strategies.

2. NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Preterm baby constitutes two-third of low birth weight babies. The incidence of low weight birth baby is about 30-40% in the developing countries; as such the incidence of preterm baby is about 20-25% in affluent societies and in the developed countries. The incident of the former is less than 10% (DC. Dutta) about 98% of the 5 million neonatal deaths estimated by WHO, (1995) occurred in two income countries more than 2/3^rd were early neonatal deaths. Low birth weight is the underlying cause of more of these deaths. The prevention and treatment of preterm birth has been the strategies have been used to assess the individual potential for preterm birth based on socio-economic, clinical, history, lifestyle and past obstetrics and current prenatal complication. Unfortunately, there is little evidence form randomized trials of preterm preventive program based on prospective risk scoring, whether they are hospital based or requiring local social intervention, to suggest that there has been overall reduction in the incidence of preterm delivery. (W.B saunders) Recent years have provided remarkable advance in the knowledge and technology available for the care of very low birth weight infants who make up for a growing segment of the NICU population. Although this has resulted in a dramatic improvement in the morality among infants born with the weight of less than 250gm, there has been an equivalent improvement in the incidence of short term and long term morbidity. (Lotal et al. 1996) Low birth weight are immature, they need special nursing care. According to Patricia (1990) low birth weight babies require more intensive care than normal babies. Thus early identification of preterm developmental complications is important for the prevention of mitigation of disability, helping the affected infants and their families in finding medical and appropriate services, and helping the child to make most of his/her potential. The preterm infants require special care which includes maintenance of nutritional status, prevention of infection and adequate nursing care. (Dutta, 1997)

3. OBJECTIVES:

1. Collect demographic variables regarding the preterm infants.

2. Assess the knowledge of mothers regarding developmental care for very low weight preterm infants.

3. Identify the association between knowledge and selected demographic variables.

4. To prepare an information booklet regarding care of preterm infants based on findings.

4. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES:

There will be no significant association between the knowledge level of mothers and selected demographic variables such as,

1. Age

2. Education

3. Occupation

4. Income

5. Type of family

6. Age at marriage

7. Number of children

8. Source of information

9. Knowledge level of mothers as assessed by chi-square test at 0-05 level.

The conceptual framework of the study was based on Betty Neuman’s system theory. The study adopted descriptive survey approach with purposive sampling technique.

I. SAMPLE:

In this study, samples consisted mothers of premature infants admitted at Maternity Hospital, Thrissur, Kerala.

Sampling Criteria:

Inclusion criteria for sampling:

· Mothers of premature infants admitted in Thrissur Maternity hospital, Kerala

· Mothers who are willing to participate in study

· Mothers who can communicate in English or Malayalam

Exclusion criteria for sampling:

· Mothers who are not willing to participate in study

· Mothers whose children are critically ill

· Mothers who cannot communicate in English or Malayalam

II. TOOL DESCRIPTION:

The research developed a structured interview schedule, which consisted items on the following aspects,

Section A:-

Items on demographic variables like age, religion, education, occupation, income, age at marriage, type of family, number of children and source of information.

Section B:-

Knowledge items of basic concept of premature infants, like maintenance of thermoregulation, nutrition, physical care, prevention of infection and follow up care. All items in knowledge contain four options.

Scoring procedure:

There is one correct answer for each item and is scored with one mark. The data analysis was planned to include descriptive and inferential statistics, the following plan of analysis was developed.

Section I:

Description of demographic characteristics of participants.

Section II:

Finding of knowledge score on care of premature infants.

Section III:

Association between knowledge scores and demographic variables.

Section I: Analysis of sample characteristics regarding demographic variables:

Nine demographic variables were considered as said earlier.

Table 1 Demographic variables – Frequency distribution

Demographic variables

Respondents

Frequency

Percentage

Age

36%

34%

26%

18-22

23-27

28-32

>32

Monthly Income

14%

32%

16%

10%

28%

1500-3500

3501-4500

4501-5500

5501-6500

>6501

Education

20%

30%

12%

26%

12%

Illiterates

Primary

Secondary

Pre-university

Graduate

Occupation

54%

20%

26%

House wife

Laborer

Professional

Source of information

10%

82%

Mass media

Health Prof

Relatives

Type of family

44%

56%

Nuclear

Joint

Religion

50%

30%

20%

Hindu

Muslim

Christian

Birth order of children

46%

42%

12%

Age at marriage

24%

40%

36%

<18

19-22

23-26

Major Findings of the Study:

The majority participants belonged to age group of 23-27, 34% and 36% under 18-22 years of age, 26% under age group of 28-32 and 4% of >32 years of age group.

· 50% of participants were Hindus

· 26% of participants completed high school education

· 14% had monthly income of 1500-3500

· 44% belonged to nuclear family

· 36% were married at the age of 18-22 years

· 46% participants had one child

· 82% participants had source of information from relatives

The findings of the results showed participants had more knowledge on basic concept on premature infant (47%), maintenance of temperature (49%), maintenance of nutrition (43%), hygiene care of premature infants (73%), prevention of infection (66%), and follow up care (47%).

Section III: Identification of the association between knowledge on selected demographic variables.

Table 2 Demographic variables – Knowledge level of respondents

Demo variables

Respondents (%)

Inadequate

Moderate

Adequate

Age

100

18-22

23-27

28-32

>32

Monthly Income

1500-3500

3501-4500

4501-5500

5501-6500

>6501

Education

100

Illiterates

Primary

Secondary

Pre-univ

Graduate

Occupation

House wife

Laborer

Professional

Source of information

Mass media

Health Prof

Relatives

Type of family

Nuclear

Joint

Religion

Hindu

Muslim

Christian

Birth order of children

Age at marriage

<18

19-22

23-26

5. CONCLUSION:

The findings of the study have implication for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research. In the view of the findings reported, the following recommendations are made for further research:

1. Large sample size could be considered.

2. An evaluative study can be done to determine the effectiveness of information booklet.

3. The study can be conducted in community setup to find out the knowledge of mother’s regarding care of premature infants.

4. A study can be conducted to assess the knowledge of female health workers on home care regarding care of premature infants.

6. REFERENCES:

1. D.C. Dutta. Text book of obstetric. 4^th edition. New central book agency publishers: 1998. Pg.491.

2. D.C. Dutta. Text book obstetrics including perinatology and contraception. New Delhi. Central book agency. 1997. Pg.473-483.

3. W.B. Saunders. High risk pregnancy management option. 2^nd edition. Harcourt brace and company publishers. 1999. Pg.1008.

4. Gupta Neeru Early neonatology mortality and morbidity is at risk and normal term pregnancy. Indian Paediatrics. 1995. Pg.20-25, 221-223.

5. http://www.slideshare.net/binishasinha/developmental-assessment

6. http://www.24remedy.com/clinical-methods/developmental-assessment/

7. Sheela, Dr. V. Indra, Dissertation-“A study to assess the knowledge of mothers regarding care of premature infants in selected hospitals at Kerala (guided by Dr. V. Indra)”, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, 2009.

Received on 14.03.2015 Modified on 01.04.2015

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research 3(2): April-June, 2015; Page 167-171