Effectiveness of Essential Care for Every Baby Program on Nurses-Midwives Knowledge and Skills in Soran Independent Administration

Background and Objectives: Essential Care for Every Baby is an evidence-based educa-tion program aimed at improving the intellectual knowledge and skills of providers who provide basic newborn care. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Essential Care for Every Baby training program in improving the knowledge and skills of nurse-midwives who participate in the training. Methods: A quasi-experimental one-group pre-post study was carried out in seven health settings in Soran Independent Administration, Erbil City, Iraq. A sample of 40 nurse-midwives was recruited for the study; the training program was conducted at the Nursing and Midwifery Development Centre in Erbil City. A self-reporting form was used for data collection of sociodemographic, knowledge, and observation checklists for skills of the participants on essential newborn care. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 27 statistical analysis. Results: Out of 40 nurse-midwives, 32.5% were aged between 22-27 years old and 55% had a diploma. In the pretest, only 2.5% of participants achieved a satisfactory score in the knowledge multiple-choice questions. Following the training, the majority of partici-pants, 85%, achieved a satisfactory score. Based on a paired t-test, there was a significant improvement in knowledge mean from 14.40 (SD = 3.01) in the pretest to 21.85 (SD = 2.17) (mean difference = -7.45, t(39) = -16.61) with a P-value <0.001. None of the partici-pants reached a satisfactory level in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations A (well baby) and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations B (baby with problem) in the pre-test; however, 95% reached a satisfactory level in both assessments in the posttest. Skills also showed significant improvement via paired t-test. Objective Structured Clinical Ex-aminations A (well baby) improved from 7.70 (SD = 3.55) to 18.45 (SD = 1.69) (mean difference = -10.75, t(39) = -18.45) and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations B (baby with problem) from 3.63 (SD = 2.15) to 12.10 (SD = 1.11) (mean difference = -8.48, t(39) = -21.26) with a P-value <0.001 for both. Conclusion: The significant improvement in both knowledge and skills following the training indicates the effectiveness of the Essential Care for Every Baby program in enhancing clinical competencies among nurse-midwives.