• Jeffrey R Willis, Vishwajeet Kumar, Saroj Mohanty, Vivek Singh, Aarti Kumar, Jai V Singh, Rajendra P Misra, Shally Awasthi, Pramod Singh, Amit Gupta, Abdullah H Baqui, Mathuram Santosham, Gary L Darmstadt, and Saksham Study Group.
• International Center for Advancing Neonatal Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
• J. Trop. Pediatr. 2012 Aug 1; 58 (4): 286-91.

AbstractIn the context of high neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in developing country settings, a promising strategy for enhancing newborn health is promotion of preventive newborn care practices. We measured the effect of a behaviour-change intervention on perceived neonatal illnesses in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. The study was nested in a cluster-randomized controlled trial of the impact of a package of essential newborn care on NMR. We prospectively enrolled 802 mothers and administered a questionnaire on perceived neonatal morbidities. Regression analysis showed that newborns in the intervention clusters had significantly lower risk of perceived diarrhoea [adjusted relative risk (aRR) 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.49-0.90] and skin-related complications [aRR 0.67, 95% CI 0.45-1.00] compared to newborns in the comparison area. Assuming incidence of perceived illnesses is a proxy for actual morbidity rates, we conclude that promotion of preventive care practices through behaviour-change interventions was effective in reducing neonatal morbidities.

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