Knowledge of Basic Neonatal Resuscitation and Associated Factors Among Midwives and Nurses in Public Health Institutions in Eastern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Neonatal resuscitation is a means to restore life to a baby from the state of asphyxia. It is a single intervention of birth asphyxia. Over 1.2 million African babies are supposed to die in the first four weeks of their life and many of them in the first 24 hours of birth in Sub-Saharan Africa. The major cause of early neonatal death is neonatal asphyxia, which can be prevented by neonatal resuscitation. However, there is limited evidence on midwives’ and nurses’ knowledge of neonatal resuscitation in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge of midwives and nurses about neonatal resuscitation and its associated factors. METHODS: This facility-based cross-sectional study was done on 427 midwives and nurses, who were selected using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected on facility type, availability of essential equipment, socio-demographic characteristics, working unit, professional experience, in-service training, and knowledge of neonatal resuscitation. First-degree holder midwives collected the data using a pre-tested face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between the dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: The study showed that 9.8% of the study participants had good knowledge about neonatal resuscitation. Factors significantly associated with knowledge of neonatal resuscitation were being trained on newborn resuscitation (AOR = 3.79, 95% CI: 1.73, 8.32), being unmarried (AOR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.11, 5.02), holding bachelor sciences degree or above (AOR = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.11, 6.47), and working under West Hararghe health institutions (AOR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.88). CONCLUSION: The study participants had low knowledge of neonatal resuscitation. Being unmarried, holding bachelor sciences degree or above, being trained on neonatal resuscitation, and working under West Hararghe health institutions were factors associated with the knowledge of the study participants on neonatal resuscitation.