Preparedness on Newborn Resuscitation: A Study Done in Kenyatta National Hospital among Health Care Providers in Labour Ward and Maternity Theatre

Preparedness on Newborn Resuscitation: A Study Done in Kenyatta National Hospital among Health Care Providers in Labour Ward and Maternity Theatre - Background: Preparedness in neonatal resuscitation is critical in delivery rooms for the purpose of saving newborns lives. Neonatal mortality still continue to rise in Africa and one of the main causes of neonatal death is birth asphyxia. Annually136 million newborn are delivered and approximately 10 million require basic resuscitation. Neonatal death can be reduced by performing basic neonatal resuscitation such as drying to stimulate the newborn and assisted ventilation with bag valve and mask. Knowledge and skills on newborn resuscitation are vital in decreasing neonatal deaths. Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive study where a total of 100 health care providers were sampled for the study using stratified random sampling where different carders were put in different stratum at Kenyatta National Hospital labour ward and maternity theatre. The study was conducted from February to July 2019. Questionnaires were used to collect data on knowledge on newborn resuscitation. Results: Majority of the respondents were nurses 79(79.8%) and had worked in this units for more than 5 years. Seventy five percent had been trained on newborn resuscitation, 34(45.3%) had been trained on Emergency Triage and Treatment plus (ETAT +). On knowledge on newborn resuscitation 78(78%) were knowledgeable. Only 44(44%) of the health care providers identified correct steps of newborn resuscitation. There was no significant association between knowledge and years of experience, cadre or working station however there was significance between training and knowledge on newborn resuscitation P = 0.012. Conclusion: Knowledge on newborn resuscitation was good however identification of the steps of newborn resuscitation in sequence was a challenge. Keywords: Health care providers’ preparedness, knowledge on newborn resuscitation, birth asphyxia.