Newborn Thermal Care Practices in Rural India: A Community Based Program to Prevent and Improve Recognition and Management of Hypothermia

This study is designed to determine domiciliary care knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding essential newborn care, with a focus on newborn thermal control; develop behavior change communications to promote prevention, early recognition and effective management of newborn hypothermia, evaluate impact and cost-effectiveness of education/behavior change communications delivered by Community Health Workers and Community Health Promoters/Change Agents on essential newborn care practices, including care-seeking; prevalence, recognition and management of hypothermia, including adaptation, safety and utility of Kangaroo Mother Care; and neonatal morbidity and mortality; evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of using LCT ThermoSpot device in rural communities to enhance mothers' recognition and management of neonatal hypothermia; determine the influence of the neonatal hypothermia indicator (ThermoSpot) on recognition of and response to newborn hypothermia and health-seeking behavior of the caregivers; develop algorithms for recognition and management of hypothermia to inform neonatal IMCI and verbal autopsy protocols and gain insight into the potential roles of various cadres of workers in providing neonatal health services at the community level and inform the development of models of community-based essential newborn care.