Knowledge and practices of mothers in the care of newborns at home in the first six days

Abstract

Objective: To analyze mothers' knowledge and practices about newborn care at home from zero to six days of life. Methods: A qualitative study with a descriptive and exploratory approach, the setting of which was the domicile of the mothers of newborns. The semi-structured interview was carried out with 14 participants. After that, the data organization was analyzed and its content was applied in the thematic modality.  Results: From the thematic analysis, four categories emerged: The knowledge of mothers in the preventive care of the newborn; Care of the family to the newborn in the first week of life; Health professional actions for the care of the newborn in the first week of life; The popular practices of mothers in the care of the newborn in the first week of life. Conclusion: It is necessary to say that scientific knowledge and popular knowledge permeate newborn health care practices. When mothers do not receive satisfactory information about the basic care of the newborn at home during prenatal, postpartum and the follow-up and care of the child in the first days of life, the health of the newborn is at risk.