Dynamics of immediate newborn care practices in different regions of India

Objectives: to describe the newborn care practices related to clean delivery kit, thermal care and breastfeeding in different regions of India and to identify socio-demographic, antenatal and delivery care factors that are associated with these practices.
Methods: Data for the study were drawn from NFHS-3 conducted in the year 2005-06. The survey covers a representative sample of about 124,385 ever‐married women in the age group 15–49, and the total births recorded are 51, 555 that occurred in the last five years preceding the survey. Logistic regression was used to identify socio-demographic, antenatal and delivery care factors that were associated with the three care practices.
Results: The presence of birth attendant at the place of delivery and women with counseling advice were significantly associated with the use of clean delivery kit and thermal care practice but it is not much associated with breastfeeding practice. Prelacteal feeding was almost universal, and it was common to delay breastfeeding initiation for several days. It is apparent that those women who received ANC are more likely to use clean delivery kit as compared to other groups. Overall the research shows that newborn care practices are well performed in the Southern region whereas its practice is lagging behind in central and east regions.