Knowledge of Health Professionals on Essential Newborn Care in Bamako, Mali

Despite existing policies on training health professionnels in essential newborn care (ENC), neonatal mortality still remains high in Mali. Our work aimed to assess the level of knowledge of health staff about ENC. Material and methods: From March 20th to April 20th, 2016, we interviewed newborn care providers at the six reference health centers and the Gabriel Toure University Hospital Center in Bamako. Results: In total, we interviewed 407 newborn care providers with a sex ratio of 0.52. Interviewees had over five years work experience in 62.1%. They considered a low Apgar score as an indication for neonatal resuscitation in 89%, regardless of profile (p = 0.1583). They knew the good aspiration technique in 54%, with nurses and midwives more knowledgeable (p u003c 0.001) of the reference health centers (p = 0.0000). The interviewees knew the indication and rate of ventilation in 30.2% and 16.0%, respectively. About one third (34%) thought oxygen administration should be systematic during ventilation. The knowledge level on ventilation was the lowest in the group of general practitioners (p = 0.0063 for oxygen indication and p u003c 0.001 for the technique). Knowledge level for other ENC components (temperature maintenance, eyes care, breastfeeding) were higher. The knowledge of the delay of the breasting did not correlated with either the profile (p = 0.0857) or the place of practice. The knowledge of the first bath was dependent on both the professional profile (p = 0.0002) and the reference level (p = 0.0238). Conclusion: The level of knowledge of health professionnels on ENC should be improved. This will involve the integration of ENC in initial training curricula along with an appropriate continuing training policy thereafter.