Perinatal Handwashing Intervention in Bangladesh

Development and Evaluation of Perinatal Handwashing Promotion for Improved Maternal Handwashing Behavior

The purpose of this study is to determine if an intensive handwashing intervention administered to primiparous women during their pregnancy can increase maternal handwashing with soap at critical times.

In high neonatal mortality settings, about half of neonatal deaths are estimated to occur because of infectious syndromes such as sepsis, acute respiratory infection, neonatal tetanus, and diarrhea. Promoting handwashing to mothers in the post-neonatal period has been shown to reduce the risk of pneumonia and diarrhea among infants > 28 days old but there is little information on the protective effect of handwashing for neonatal health outcomes. The proposed study will assess motivators and barriers to handwashing with soap among new mothers, and develop and test a hand cleansing promotion intervention in rural Bangladesh. The handwashing behavior change intervention will include approaches to enhance maternal expectations of being a good nurturer, as well as enhancing maternal self-efficacy to carry out handwashing behavior.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Primiparous women who plan to remain in the study area up to 1 months after birth

Exclusion Criteria:

• Prior live birth