ABSTRACT
Introduction: Neonatal burn injuries are rare in clinical practice. This explains the many case reports of such injuries. This is a report of our experience in the management of neonatal burn injuries in our centre. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of neonatal burn injuries that were managed over an eight year period (2014-2022). The information that was retrieved from the case notes included the socio-demographic data, birth weight, weight at admission, type of injury, total burn surface area (TBSA), depth of burn injury, type of treatment, length of hospital stay and outcome of care. The data were then entered into the SPSS version 25 (IBM Corp., United States) software and analysed. Results: We managed 11 neonates, five males and six females with a male: female (M: F) ratio of 1:1.2. Their age ranged from zero to 25 days with a median (IQR) of 2 (1 -15) days. Eight (72.7%) of them were one to two days old and eight (72.7%) were admitted as out born. Majority (81.8%) of the mothers were primiparous women. Nine (81.8%) of the injuries were as a result of hot water bath. Most (66.6%) of these baths were done by the grandmothers or mothers of the babies. The total burn surface area (TBSA) ranged from 1% to 62%, with a median (IQR) of 11 (7.5 - 19.0). None of the babies had skin grafting. The length of stay (LOS) ranged from six days to 25 days with a median (IQR) of 11.0 (7.0 - 16.0) days. Only one baby died giving a hospital mortality rate of 9.1%. Conclusions: The commonest cause of neonatal burn injury in this series is scald injuries from hot water bath. Providing education about safe bathing to caregivers should be included in routine antenatal and postnatal instructions in order to prevent burns.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown that the impact of maternal mental health disorders on newborns' well-being in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) are underreported, multi-dimensional and varies over time and differs from what is reported in high-income countries. We present the prevalence and risk factors associated with common mental disorders (CMDs) among breastfeeding mothers whose infants were admitted to Nigerian tertiary care facilities. METHODS: This was a national cross-sectional study involving mothers of hospitalised babies from eleven Nigerian tertiary hospitals. We used the WHO self-reporting Questionnaire 20 and an adapted WHO/UNICEF ten-step breastfeeding support package to assess mothers' mental health and breastfeeding support. RESULTS: Only 895 of the 1,120 mothers recruited from eleven tertiary healthcare nurseries in six geopolitical zones of Nigeria had complete datasets for analysis. The participants' mean age was 29.9 ± 6.2 years. One in four had CMDs; 24.0% (95% CI: 21.235, 26.937%). The ages of mothers, parity, gestational age at delivery, and length of hospital stay were comparable between mothers with and those without CMDs. Antenatal care at primary healthcare facilities (adjusted odds ratio [aOR:13], primary education [aOR:3.255] living in the south-southern region of the country [aOR 2.207], poor breastfeeding support [aOR:1.467], polygamous family settings [aOR:2.182], and a previous history of mental health disorders [aOR:4.684] were significantly associated with CMDs. In contrast, those from the middle and lower socioeconomic classes were less likely to develop CMDs, with [aOR:0.532] and [aOR:0.493], respectively. CONCLUSION: In Nigeria, the prevalence of CMDs is relatively high among breastfeeding mothers with infants admitted to a tertiary care facility. Prior history of mental illness, polygamous households, mothers living in the southern region and low or no educational attainment have a greater risk of developing CMDs. This study provides evidence for assessing and tailoring interventions to CMDs among breastfeeding mothers in neonatal nurseries in LMIC.
