Knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers about neonatal swaddling in Jahrorn

ABSTRACT

Swaddling as a current custom in our country has many advantages and disadvantages. The mothers' knowledge about them affects the neonatal care. The present study aims to assess the mothers' knowledge, attitude and practice about swaddling. In the present study, 190 mothers in spring 2006 were studied through a questionnaire. Data including age, place of living, parity, job, education, and also the reasons, advantages and disadvantages of swaddling were collected. Moreover, knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers and their correlation with other variables were evaluated. More than 95 percent of the mothers swaddled their babies due to custom or recommendation of their families. Better sleep [36.3%] and strong foot [30%] were the most common reasons for swaddling, as stated by mothers. More than 90 percent of the mothers had no knowledge about the disadvantages of swaddling. There was a statistically significant correlation between the mothers' level of knowledge and their age, parity, place of living and education. In regard to swaddling as a current custom and with respect to many advantages and disadvantages of swaddling in growth, development and better care of infants, it seems that it would be better to provide pamphlets for increasing the mothers' knowledge