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Volume 27, Issue 136, June 2023

The prevalent practice and attitude toward neonatal danger signs among mothers in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Ali Tawfiq Alamer^1♦, Mohammed Ali Alshayeb¹, Hassan Nassir M Bumejdad², Kadhem Hussain Alhaddad¹, Mohammed Saeed Alramadan¹, Jalal Khaled Aldandan³, Ahmed Eissa Aleissa⁴, Ali Ameer Al Mohammedsaleh³, Mohammed Hussain Al Ali³, Raghad Yousof Alturaifi¹, Fatimah Mohammed Ahmed Alshakhs¹, Sawsan Sami Albattat¹, Zainab Hussain Buzaid⁵, Fares Ahmad Al Fares⁶, Sirar Ahmad Alali ⁷

¹Paediatric Department, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
²Paediatric Department, Almaarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
³Paediatric Department, Maternity and Children Hospital, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
⁴Paediatric Department, King Faisal General Hospital, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
⁵Paediatric Department, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁶Paediatrics Department, Dar Al-Uloom University, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁷Paediatrics Department, New Medical Center (NMC) Royal Hospital Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

^♦Corresponding author
Paediatric Department, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Neonatal danger signs were recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), which categorized new-borns at higher risk of morbidity and mortality. Reporting any of these signs requires early detection. Appropriate and suitable care-seeking is crucial to improve neonatal health and survival. Methodology: In Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, cross-sectional online research (based on a survey) was carried out. During the research period January to March 2023, the study targeted all mothers and neonatal caretakers in the Eastern province. Following a thorough literature study and expert consultation, the researchers created an online electronic questionnaire for collecting the data. Results: There were a total of 1664 neonate caregivers, of which 1609 (96.7%) were mothers and 55 (3.3%) were nannies. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to over 40 years. The most well-known danger signs among study participants were convulsions (81.6%), new-born child abstains from breastfeeding completely at birth or later (73.6%), High temperature of more than 37.5 C (67.6%), rapid breathing (66.9%), inflammation signs (66%) and jaundice (64.2%). Twelve hundred eighty-seven (77.3%) of the study participants reported that their new-born infant exhibited one of the danger sign symptoms. Conclusions: The current study revealed that approximately two-thirds of mothers and caregivers were aware of their new-born’s danger indicators, particularly convulsions and breastfeeding difficulties. Additionally, three-quarters of the mothers/caregivers observed at least one neonatal danger sign.

Keywords: Neonates, danger signs, alarms, mothers, awareness, experience, caregivers, Saudi Arabia