Effects of maternal education program on newborn care behavior to prevent jaundice

Abstract

Purposes: To compare maternal behavior in caring for newborns to prevent hyperbilirubinemia between the group of mothers who received the educational program on newborn care for hyperbilirubinemia prevention and the group of mothers who received routine nursing care.

Study Design: Quasi-experimental research.

Materials and Methods: The participants were full-term mothers who delivered at Roi Et Hospital, special monk's ward, 3^rd floor, regardless of delivery method and without complications, and their full-term newborns, between May 1, 2025, and July 31, 2025. The study involved two groups, totaling 40 subjects, divided into a control group20 and an experimental group 20. Measurements were taken once after the experiment. Data were collected using questionnaires on maternal breastfeeding behavior and questionnaires on hyperbilirubinemia assessment behavior, which were validated by three experts. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.76 and 0.89. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean, percentage, and standard deviation.

Main finding: The comparison of behavior scores between the group of mothers who received routine nursing care and the group of mothers who received the educational program for hyperbilirubinemia prevention showed that the experimental group had significantly better breastfeeding skills than the control group (p = .017), which was statistically significant (p < .05). The assessment of hyperbilirubinemia in both groups was not significantly different (p = .134), which was statistically greater than the determined significance level (p >.05). However, a consideration of the percentage data in the table revealed that the experimental group performed "always" higher than the control group for every item, indicating a tendency for the program to help mothers correctly assess hyperbilirubinemia.

Conclusion and recommendations: The application of the program in nursing services confirmed that the program for hyperbilirubinemia prevention was clearly effective in enhancing maternal breastfeeding skills. Therefore, this program should be applied to educate all postpartum mothers, especially those with risk factors for hyperbilirubinemia, to ensure their infants receive adequate and proper milk.