Abstract:
Background: Every year worldwide 15 million preterm infants are born and one out of ten is a
preterm infant. Sixty percent of preterm infants are born in developing countries. The infant
mortality rate has decreased from an estimated rate of 63 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 32
deaths per 1000 live births in 2015.
The aim of the study is to assess maternal awareness and attitude of the care of their preterm infant
at discharge from the selected referral hospital.
Study design: A cross- sectional descriptive approach was used.
Population: mothers of preterm babies who were admitted and cared for at the selected referral
hospital. Materials: Standard questionnaire adapted for Rwanda context. A five-point linkert scale
Analysis: Data entry and quantitative descriptive statistics with SPSS version 16.
Results: The mean score of mothers awareness about preterm infant care was 59.3% and the mean
score of mothers attitude on preterm infant care was 85.2%, 41(43.6%) of the participants said that
they could use cow’s milk to feed their baby and 44(46.8%) of participants should use formula.
However; exclusive breastfeeding knowledge was high with 87(92,6%) and 84(89.4%) opted for
breastfeeding on demand .Among participants, 53(56%) said that they should keep their baby warm
in skin to skin contact while 40(42) said they will put the baby in warm cloth. Knowledge of
jaundice, sign of seizures, excessive crying and immunization of the preterm infant was low.
Conclusion: Maternal attitudes toward care of their preterm infants were mostly positive. There are specific gaps in knowledge regarding danger signs.
