Neonatal deaths in infants and toddlers are varied from country to country. Rate of neonatal deaths in Indonesia is still high.
Death in young babies (1 day to less than 2 months old) is relatively higher than in older babies with conditions such as low weight, asphyxia, hypothermia, diarrhea, sepsis, etc. So, attention to neonatal death reduction effort becomes important as neonatal deaths contribute as high as 65 percent to baby fatalities.
According to Dewi Marianthi, neonatal care can be given to ill neonatal or neonatal with complicacies/emergencies. They need to have standard treatment from skilled paramedics in home, basic health facilities or referential health centres.
“The treatment needs to be in line with the standards whether integrated management of young babies standard, asphyxia management of newborn babies, low weight management, service guidelines of neonatal essentials in basic health facilities and other service operational standards,” said Dewi in Auditorium of Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing UGM on Tuesday (20/3).
According to Dewi that works at the Health Polytechnique in Aceh Health Ministry, treatment of young babies had to be improved among society, because culture and habit of society became the influential factor to health levels. Health cadres are assessed as having important roles to manage integrated management of young babies. This cultural approach model is believed to be able to increase their knowledge, attitude, and skills.
“Cadres who are aware, competent and sensitive toward cultures become the priority for integrated management of young babies based on society, although this programme has not run in Indonesia, especially Aceh,” said Dewi during her doctoral promotion at Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing UGM.
Dewi hoped increase in cultural competence of the cadre would increase their knowledge, mother efficacy in treating their babies. Hopefully, the life quality of postpartum mothers may increase, too.
In her dissertation themed Integrated Management Model of Young Babies Based on Society through Cultural Approach in Aceh, Dewi explained her research used mixed methods that applied exploratory sequential design. The first phase was qualitative with ethnography approach to explore the Aceh culture related to postpartum mothers and newborn babies, and to seek a model of intervention of integrated management of young babies based on society.
“The second phase is the implementation of integrated management of newborn babies in society using quantitative research approach, applying quasi experiment method. The process of integrated management is started by giving training to facilitators and later cadres,” she added.