Strengthening Family, Midwife, and Community Health Cadre Support in Home Care for Low Birth Weight Infants
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Low birth weight infants require continuous care after discharge from health facilities due to their vulnerability to nutritional problems, hypothermia, infection, and growth disturbances. During home-based care, mothers serve as the primary caregivers; however, the quality and continuity of care are strongly influenced by support from family members, midwives or health professionals, and community health cadres. This community service activity aimed to describe the role of family, midwife, and cadre support in home care for low birth weight infants as a basis for strengthening community-based assistance. The activity used a descriptive approach involving partner coordination, baseline data collection, descriptive tabulation, discussion of care needs, and formulation of recommendations for strengthening community support. The target participants were 12 mothers who had infants with a birth weight of less than 2,500 grams. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire covering maternal and infant characteristics, home-care practices, family support, midwife or health professional support, cadre support, maternal difficulties, and mothers’ readiness as primary caregivers. The findings showed that most mothers still experienced difficulties in caring for low birth weight infants, particularly in breastfeeding, managing infants with poor feeding, overcoming fear when handling fragile infants, and accessing health services. Family and midwife support were relatively available, whereas cadre support still required further strengthening. This activity indicates that strengthening community support is essential to assist mothers in providing safe, continuous, and appropriate home care for low birth weight infants
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Amaliya, S., Harhara, S. R., Kapti, R. E., Azizah, N., & Novera, D. (2022). Maternal Knowledge Level Determining Parenting Self-Efficacy Of Low Birth Weight Babies: Pilot Study. Pediomaternal Nursing Journal, 8(2), 95–101. https://doi.org/10.20473/pmnj.v8i2.36736
Arzani, A., Zahedpasha, Y., Zabihi, A., & Jafarian Amiri, S. R. (2017). Effect of education on awareness of practice of mothers in care of premature infants. Journal of Babol University of Medical Sciences, 19(10), 42–47. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85038093127&partnerID=40&md5=8e85793ba3d96cacd0f63bdb5ca56e4d
Astuti, E., Nursalam, N., Devy, S. R., & Etika, R. (2019). Knowledge, family support and self-reliance capital when caring for low birth weight babies. Jurnal Ners, 14(1), 10–15. https://doi.org/10.20473/jn.v14i1.12734
Conde-Agudelo, A., & Díaz-Rossello, J. L. (2016). Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low birthweight infants. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD002771.pub4
Franck, L. S., Waddington, C., & O’Brien, K. (2020). Family i ntegrated care for reterm infants. Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America, 32(2), 149–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnc.2020.01.001
Galvin, E. C., Wills, T., & Coffey, A. (2017). Readiness for hospital discharge: A concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73(11), 2547–2557. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13324
Hadi, E. N., Tambunan, E. S., Pratomo, H., Priyohastono, S., & Rustina, Y. (2022). Health education to improve low-birthweight infant care practices in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Health Education Research, 37(2), 133–141. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyac005
Hariati, S., Sutomo, R., Lusmilasari, L., Febriani, A. D. B., & Kadar, K. (2020). Discharge readiness of Indonesian mothers with preterm infants in the NICU. Enfermería Clínica, 30, 234–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enfcli.2019.07.096
Hurt, L., Odd, D., Mann, M., Beetham, H., Dorgeat, E., Isaac, T. C. W., Ashman, A., & Wood, F. (2023). What matters to families about the healthcare of preterm or low birth weight infants: A qualitative evidence synthesis. Patient Education and Counseling, 115, 107893. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.107893
Kaewwimol, P., Buaboon, N., Ratchanagul, P., Fongkaew, W., & Settheekul, S. (2025). Maternal experiences of caring for preterm infants at home after hospital discharge: A qualitative descriptive study. Pacific Rim International Journal of Nursing Research, 29(3), 479–492. https://doi.org/10.60099/prijnr.2025.272920
Kristiawati, R., Budi, I., & Hariyati, R. T. S. (2023). Mothers’ needs in discharge planning for low birth weight babies: A qualitative study. Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 29(3), 535–539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2022.11.005
Mohammaddoost, F., Mosayebi, Z., Peyrovi, H., Chehrzad, M.-M., & Mehran, A. (2016). The effect of mothers’ empowerment program on premature infants’ weight gain and duration of hospitalization. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 21(4), 357–362. https://doi.org/10.4103/1735-9066.185572
Nindrea, R. D., Ming, L. C., & Sari, N. P. (2025). Social Support, Motivation, and Maternal Knowledge about Providing Essential Health Care Services for Preterm and Low Birth Weight Babies in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia. Journal of Health Research, 39(2). https://doi.org/10.56808/2586-940X.1142
O’Brien, K., Robson, K., Bracht, M., Cruz, M., Lui, K., Alvaro, R., da Silva, O., Monterrosa, L., Narvey, M., Ng, E., Soraisham, A., Ye, X. Y., Mirea, L., Tarnow-Mordi, W., Lee, S. K., O’Brien, K., Lee, S., Bracht, M., Caouette, G., … Hales, D. (2018). Effectiveness of family i ntegrated care in neonatal intensive care units on infant and parent outcomes: a multicenter, multinational, cluster-randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2(4), 245–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(18)30039-7
Oluoch, D., Hinton, L., English, M., Irimu, G., Onyango, T., & Jones, C. O. H. (2023). Mothers’ involvement in providing care for their hospitalized sick newborns in Kenya: a focused ethnographic account. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-023-05686-3
Prabhakaran, H., & Arulappan, J. (2021). Effectiveness of nurse led structured teaching programme on knowledge and practice of postnatal mothers on low birth weight care. Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 27(3), 200–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2020.09.004
Rahayuningsih, S. I., Rustina, Y., Afiyanti, Y., & Eryando, T. (2024a). Culture of caring for low birth weight infants at home after treatment: An ethnographic study from Indonesia. Jurnal Keperawatan Padjadjaran, 12(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.24198/jkp.v12i1.2380
Rahayuningsih, S. I., Rustina, Y., Afiyanti, Y., & Eryando, T. (2024b). The culture of caring for low birth weight infants at home after treatment: An ethnographic study from Indonesia. Jurnal Keperawatan Padjadjaran, 12(1), 74–85. https://doi.org/10.24198/jkp.v12i1.2380
Schuler, C., Agbozo, F., Ntow, G. E., & Waldboth, V. (2023). Health-system drivers influencing the continuum of care linkages for low-birth-weight infants at different care levels in Ghana. BMC Pediatrics, 23(1), 501. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-023-04330-5
Schuler, C., Ntow, G. E., Berner, R., Thet Naing Oo, S., & Pfister, R. E. (2025). Family systems care approaches and methodologies for maternal, newborn and child health in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review. Global Health Action, 18(1), 2567714. https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2567714
Shah, P. S., Lui, K., Sjörs, G., Mirea, L., Reichman, B., Adams, M., Modi, N., Darlow, B. A., Kusuda, S., San Feliciano, L., Yang, J., Håkansson, S., Mori, R., Bassler, D., Figueras-Aloy, J., Lee, S. K., Badawi, N., Marshall, P., Craven, P., … Gibson, D. (2016). Neonatal Outcomes of Very Low Birth Weight and Very Preterm Neonates: An International Comparison. The Journal of Pediatrics, 177, 144-152.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.04.083
Situmorang, H. E., Rustina, Y., & Novieastari, E. (2025). Understanding cultural barriers to the care of low-birth-weight infants in Papua, Indonesia: A qualitative descriptive study. Belitung Nursing Journal, 11(5), 579–588. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.3953
Sivanandan, S., & Sankar, M. J. (2023). Kangaroo mother care for preterm or low birth weight infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Global Health, 8(6), e010728. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-010728
Stelwagen, M., van Kempen, A., Westmaas, A., Vet, E., & Scheele, F. (2021). Parents’ Experiences With a Model of Integrated Maternity and Neonatal Care Designed to Empower Parents. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 50(2), 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2020.11.001
Tambunan, E. S., Pratomo, H., Hadi, E. N., & Rustina, Y. (2020). Knowledge of low birth weight care as a source of coping strategies for mothers: A cross sectional study in perinatology WARD’S. Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 26(5), 268–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2020.01.003
WHO. (2022). WHO Recommendations for Care of the Preterm or Low-Birth-Weight Infant. In World Health Organization (Vol. 86, Number 4). World Health Organization. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2251-5686
Wright, J. L., Achieng, F., Tindi, L., Patil, M., Boga, M., Kimani, M., Barsosio, H. C., Juma, D., Kiige, L., Manu, A., Kariuki, S., Mathai, M., & Nabwera, H. M. (2023). Design and implementation of a community-based mother-to-mother peer support programme for the follow-up of low birthweight infants in rural western Kenya. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2023.1173238
Yu, M., & Zhu, S. (2023). Effects of family centered nursing model on children with primary nephrotic syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine, 102(33), e34601. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000034601