Abstract :
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the level of awareness and attitude of mothers regarding
neonatal jaundice.
Place & Duration of Study: This cross sectional study was conducted in the department of pediatrics from May
2015to October 2015.
Material and Methods: Total 100 women were selected for interview after taking verbal informed consent. All
the women who were married and have children were included in the study while unmarried and nulliparous
were excluded from the study. Women were asked questions regarding awareness and their attitude regarding
neonatal jaundice, eg. Sign symptoms of jaundice, what they will do if their babies will develop jaundice etc.
Results: Total 100 women’s were enrolled in this study. Regarding their educational status majority i.e.
60(60%) women were uneducated. 60(60%) mothers had knowledge regarding early diagnosis of jaundice and
they answered they can diagnosed it by yellowish discoloration of eyes, 90% women don’t know why jaundice
occurs. 30(30%) women knew that baby will develop fever and will not take feed if jaundice will develop.
According to the attitude, 80% mothers said that they will not take their babies to hospital because their blood
will be taken for different investigations. 70% mothers believe that medicines will further worsen their
symptoms. Regarding behavior, only 20% mothers said that they will take their babies to hospital immediately if
they will develop jaundice, 50% said that they will give only sun bath to their babies and they will be fine.
Conclusion: Level of awareness of mothers about neonatal jaundice is very poor in population, majority of
them don’t want to take their babies to hospitals for management instead they believe that sun exposure,
Hakeem medicine and religious pray etc are enough for the management.
Keyword :
Awareness, attitude, Neonatal jaundice