Maternal beliefs and attitudes concerning neonatal jaundice in Southeast Turkey

Objective: Neonatal Jaundice (NNJ) is a symptom in which the recognition, treatment and prognosis depend on the mother's beliefs, attitudes and behavior. Mothers may play an important role in the management of this disease. Particularly in developing regions, some traditional healing methods (THMs) are used by mothers or other caregivers. In this study, we described the regional healing methods and mothers' beliefs and attitudes for NNJ. Material and Methods: Between 01 May 2005 and 13 December 2007, all mothers of infants with NNJ were interviewed using a questionnaire to collect demographic data and information regarding their beliefs and attitudes for NNJ. Frequency distributions and Chi square analyses were used to compare mothers who used THMs with those who did not. Results: A THM was used by 41.9% of the mothers. Of the mothers under 25 years of age, 62.9% had used a THM, although there was no significant difference between the age groups. There were invasive and harmful THMs known or used by mothers such as "cutting the infant's post auricular area", "puncturing the infant's earlobe", "cutting the infant's palate" and "burning the infant's body". There were also some non-invasive methods like "sunning the infant" and "placing yellow cloths on the infant's face or bed". Conclusion: Application of harmful THMs for NNJ was revealed in the study population. Recognition of those THMs may enable health professionals to develop preventive methods of avoidance. Copyright © 2009 by Türkiye Klinikleri.