Abstract

Infancy is the most vulnerable period of life often faced with mortality and morbidity. Appropriate care is important for maintaining and improving the health of newborns. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the effect of health-based supportive plan on the performance of primiparous mothers in the care of infants. This is a quazi-experimental study with two groups of intervention (30) and control (33) selected by census. Data were collected by a demographic information questionnaire designed to assess the primaparous mothers’knowledge and practice of infant care. The designed plan for the intervention group consisted of three stages (recognition, support and evaluation). The results were analyzed and compared with the control group by the SPSS software (ver. 16). Chi-square test demonstrated that the two groups were identical in terms of the demographic variables of age, job, education level and being a housewife. The knowledge level of performance in the two groups before intervention was not significant (p>0.05).The independant T-test and Chi-square showed significant differences between the maternal action and fetal complications in both groups after the intervention (p<0.05). The results showed that the designed plan was effective in maternal performance of infant care suggesting that the support program is an effective method for improving maternal and neonatal health.

Key words: Health-based supportive plan, primiparous mothers, neonatal care.