Hand Washing by Birth Attendants, Mothers Saves Lives (1/2)

A new study in rural Nepal shows the value of washing hands with soap and water in preparation for childbirth. Researchers found that hand washing by birth attendants and mothers increased the chances that babies would survive their first month.

The study showed that the risk of death was nineteen percent lower when birth attendants washed their hands before delivery. And the risk of death was forty-four percent lower when mothers washed their hands before they touched their baby.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States did the study. They observed more than twenty-three thousand newborns. Almost all were born at home or on the way to a medical center.

The study says just fifty-three percent of birth attendants reported washing their hands with soap and water before delivery. And only fifteen percent of mothers reported washing their hands before handling their newborn. More than thirty-thousand newborns die each year in Nepal. Researcher James Tielsch says the findings suggest that hand washing could prevent many of these deaths.

The Bloomberg professor noted that several studies have shown that a mother's hand washing can reduce the risk of diarrhea in young children. But he says this was one of the first to examine the effects of hand washing on the first month after birth.