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Family-centered care (FCC) is an approach tothe planning, delivery and evaluation of servicesengaging providers, patients and families [1]. Arecent Cochrane review iterated the positive

effect that FCC has on the adequacy of children’s care,parental satisfaction, and costs [2]. FCC in newborns hasbeen known to reduce duration of hospital stay, improvewellbeing of preterm babies, improve breastfeeding rates,have better allocation of resources, and increase parent-infant bonding [3]. The outcome in very low birthweightinfants without severe perinatal diseases have resulted inbetter short term gains like full enteral feeding, earlyhospital discharge, better neurobehavioral performanceand weight-gain [4]. In another study, it was found that in-hospital developmental care led to less morbidities andbetter clinical outcomes [5].

Preliminary results from tertiary care centers in Indiahave shown that it is feasible to adopt FCC in a

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developing country setting [3]. However, it has beensuggested that implementation in public health settingswould require exploration [6]. The barriers on healthsystem factors to its effective implementation need to beidentified [7]. In India, facility-based newborn care hasgrown rapidly in the recent past. It is also reported thataround 10% of babies treated in special newborn careunits (SNCUs) do not survive till the age of one year afterdischarge [8]. Findings from these observations call for astrategy to ensure continuity of services beyond theirhospital stay. To address this gap, Government of Indiaadapted FCC in the Indian context as family participatorycare (FPC) focusing on babies weighing more than 1500g who do not require oxygen and IV fluids [9].

The objective of the current study was to assess theFPC quality initiative of SNCU in these public healthfacilities. The specific objectives included assessmentwith regards to providing regular counselling and

An Assessment of Implementation of Family Participatory Care in SpecialNewborn Care Units in Three States of India

HARISH KUMAR,1 ASHFAQ BHAT,1 VARUN ALWADHI,2 ARTI MARIA,3 RAJAT KHANNA,1 SUTAPA B NEOGI4 ANDAJAY KHERA5

From 1Norway India Partnership Initiative; 2Departments of Pediatric, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital; 3Department ofPediatrics, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital; 4Indian Institute of Public Health; and 5Child Health Division, Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare, Government of India; New Delhi, India.Correspondence to: Dr Harish Kumar, Former Director, Norway-India Partnership Initiative, New Delhi, India.harishalwadhi@hotmail.comReceived: December 17, 2018; Initial review: May 20, 2019; Accepted: November 09, 2019.

Objective: To study special newborn care units (SNCUs) in termsof family participatory care (FPC) quality initiative as perGovernment of India guidelines in select public health facilities,and to document the perspectives of the doctors and mothers.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Settings: SNCUs with functional FPC units in the states ofOdisha, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Participants: 38 SNCUs; doctors and nurses in-charge of theunit; and two eligible mothers per unit, one inside the step-downunit and second outside the step-down unit whose newborns wereadmitted to special new-born care unit, having a stable babyweighing above 1500 g.

Intervention: The states implemented FPC as per Governmentof India guidelines using National Health Mission funds acrossspecial newborn care units. This assessment involved onsiteobservation and interviews of key providers.

Outcome: Proportion of facilities providing regular counsellingsessions, enabling support to mothers, recording FPC infor-mation; perspectives of health providers on improvement ofbreastfeeding and kangaroo mother care; proportion of eligiblemothers practicing FPC, exclusively breastfeeding, and providingkangaroo mother care services.

Results: Out of 38 SNCUs, we found that FPC sessions formothers were happening in 36 (95%) facilities. SNCUs providedenabling support to mothers on FPC (74.2%), held regularsessions for the families (70.6%), nurses assisted mothers andfamily members for breastfeeding and kangaroo mother care(76.4%) and FPC information were recorded (70.6%).

Conclusions: The assessment of facilities where FPC wasimplemented showed that SNCUs were equipped to implementFPC in public health settings.

Keywords: Breastfeeding, Family centered care, Kangaroomother care, Low birthweight neonates, Quality improvement.

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enabling support to mothers on implementation of FPCand mechanism of reporting within the health system. Wealso explored the perspectives of doctors on the outcomeof FPC implementation such as improvement ofbreastfeeding and kangaroo mother care (KMC).

METHODS

The assessment was conducted between January, 2018and March, 2018 across three states (Odisha, MadhyaPradesh and Rajasthan) in public health facilities, whereFPC was implemented. The districts that had completedthe trainings of doctors and nurses were recognized asdistricts that were implementing FPC [10]. Till December2017, a total of 69 districts started implementing FPC.However, 50 districts had started reporting their data on amonthly basis. It was felt necessary that a rapidassessment would help identify the gaps inimplementation.

For the purpose of the current assessment, 38 of the50 facilities were selected through purposive samplingbased on geographical location and duration ofimplementation of FPC (8 from Madhya Pradesh, 10from Odisha and 20 from Rajasthan).

The study sample included SNCUs with functionalFPC units, doctors and nurses in-charge of the unit, andtwo eligible beneficiaries (preferably mothers, one insidethe SNCU step-down unit and second outside the SNCUwith newborn admitted in the SNCU) who provide FPCto a stable baby weighing above 1500 g. Data werecollected by one assessor in each of the SNCUs, who hadprior knowledge about health systems and were trained inconducting field level assessments. They were trained bythe research team before collection of data. The datacomprised of three components based on observationsand interviews on the day of the visit:

Facility assessment: This was done mainly on the basis ofobservations as per a predefined simple checklist andrecord reviews supplemented by interviews, whereverrequired. Based on the observations, every parameter inthe checklist was assigned a score. The scores variedbetween 0 (worst) and 4 (best). The scores were thenconverted into percentages (0=80%). The parameters included:Mothers received enabling support from nurses on FPCthrough observations (assessed on the basis ofavailability of supplies, chairs for family members in stepdown units, availability of training space and audio visualequipment, each having a score of 1); Regular trainingsessions held for the families on FPC throughobservations and interview with families (Always=4,Occasionally missed=3, Sometimes held=2,

Occasionally held with Audio visual aids=1, never=0);Mothers and family members assisted by nurses forbreastfeeding and Kangaroo mother care (KMC) throughobservations and interview with families (Always=4,Occasionally=3, Sometimes=2, Occasionally held, onlyif mother asks=1, never=0); FPC information recordedregularly through review of SNCU and FPC records andregisters (Register records details of every mother=4,Mostly recorded but not complete=3, Provision inregister but occasional information=2, Provisional but noinformation=1, No provision in register=0). The facilitieswere assessed based on the scores calculated from theobservations.

Health worker perspective: Doctors and nurses in-chargeof the unit (1 per SNCU) were interviewed to assess theirperspectives about the possible outcomes of FPCimplementation like breastfeeding rates, quality of care,KMC, hospital acquired infections. Their views onimprovement of FPC were sought. These were elicited byadministering a semi-structured tool designed for thisassessment.

Maternal practices: Mothers were asked about theirpractices with regards to breastfeeding, KMC, andtrainings received after their babies were admitted toSNCUs. Any problems faced by the mothers with regardsto FPC were explored. A semi-structured tool was usedfor this purpose. The perspectives of doctors and nursesand practices of mothers were expressed as proportions.Challenges of implementing FPC and ways to overcomethem were also noted.

Permission was taken from the state and districtauthorities before start of the data collection. Since theassessment was a part of the ongoing national program,no approval from any ethics committee was taken.However, verbal consent was obtained from everyrespondent who participated in the study.

RESULTS

Out of 38 SNCUs assessed, we found that FPC sessionsfor mothers were being conducted in 36 (95%) facilities.These were found either by direct observation or wereextracted from the FPC records maintained by the units. Atotal of 68 doctors (49.2% of doctors posted) and 253nurses (54.3% of nurses posted) were trained on FPC.

Every unit had a dedicated training space while 36(95%) of them had facilities like audio visual equipmentand other facilities for conducting trainings. However,only 16 SNCUs had training session plans displayed inthe training area.

137 (72%) out of 190 eligible women/family

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members were observed providing FPC inside theSNCU. On an average, five FPC-eligible mothers werefound inside each SNCU and four of them were found toprovide FPC routinely. In 36 facilities (95%), motherswere provided with supplies like gowns, slippers, nailcutter, soap but chairs were available for family membersin step down unit in only 84% (32) facilities. Although theperformance of the units varied for the parameters such asproviding enabling support from nurses on FPC formothers, holding regular training sessions for thefamilies, nurses assisted mothers and family members forbreastfeeding and KMC, and recoding of FPCinformation. Only 13 (34%) fulfilled all the essentialcriteria (score of 100%). The average scores for some keyparameters are summarized in Table I.

Majority of the respondents (37, 97%) expressed thatthe quality of care had improved since the time ofimplementation of FPC. All of them concurred thatbreastfeeding and KMC practices had improved with itsimplementation. Follow-up rates of newborns afterdischarge from SNCUs also improved. The staffexpressed that it was difficult to maintain the supplies andlogistics. With multiple people entering the unit forvarious tasks such as KMC and institutional follow up,the FPC sessions got affected. The internal partitionswere not enough to prevent distractions.

The mean gestational age of babies who werebeneficiaries of FPC was 34.4 provide SD weeks. Of allthe participants, 56 (74.6%) weighed less than or equal to2 kg and all of them were born preterm. Most (73, 97.3%)of the respondents interviewed mentioned that they hadreceived FPC sessions; although, some of them expressedthat they could not follow the sessions due to languageproblem. Once they entered the SNCU, they sometimesfound it difficult to adhere to the instructions. Forinstance, some cultural practices prevented them fromfollowing all aseptic precautions like removal of ringsand bangles. On an average, mothers stayed for 3.4 SDhours inside the SNCU; 33 (47.1%) of them stayed for at

least 3 hours while 14 (20%) stayed for at least 5 hours.Among those whose baby’s weight was less than or equalto 2 kg, mothers spent 4.2 (SD) hours inside SNCUs. Outof them, 49 (87.5%) reported to have practiced KMC for1.7 hours on one occasion (Table II). Number of suchoccasions varied from 3-6 times a day.

DISCUSSION

The assessment of facilities where FPC was implementedshowed that SNCUs were equipped to implement FPC inpublic health settings. Majority of the mothers werepractising FPC, exclusively breastfeeding and providingKMC.

The study findings have to be interpreted cautiouslyin the light of the methodology used. This was a rapidassessment conducted in select public health facilities togain an insight into the implementation of the guidelines.The perspectives of the implementing team (doctors andnurses) were explored that might have introduced someamount of subjectivity, since these were not correlatedfrom available records. Separate interviews with nursescould have yielded more information. However, thepurpose was not to identify faults but to capture theirperceptions and bottlenecks for appropriate remedialmeasures. Owing to limited time and resources, theassessment was based on observations of a single day andthat too, on a convenience sample of mothers, whichcould have influenced the results. FPC is beingimplemented and scaled up as a national program. In theabsence of any comparator it was not possible to evaluatethe impact of FPC. Pre- and post- intervention study wasnot possible because there were no documented records

Table I Average Scores of Facility-Based Assessment forFamily Participatory Care in Three States of India

Parameter assessed Average scorea

Mothers received enabling support from nurses on FPC 74.2%

Regular training sessions held for the families on FPC 70.6%

Mothers and family members assisted by nurses forbreastfeeding and KMC 76.4%

FPC information recorded regularly 70.6%

aScore varied from 0 (worst) to 4 (best). Scores were converted topercentages (0=80%);FPC: family participatory care; KMC: Kangroo mother care.

Table II Practices of Beneficiaries on Family ParticipatoryCare Implementation

Parameter assessed Response

Gestational age of babies, wk (n=72)a 34.4 (3.3)

Respondents allowed to participate in care ofthe child inside SNCU 70 (93.3)

Stay with the baby inside SNCU, h (n=67)a 3.4 (0.3)

Respondents who received any FPC session 73 (97.3)

Mothers practicing exclusive breastfeeding orexclusively giving expressed breast milk 70 (93.3)

Mothers who knew that exclusive breastfeedingshould be done for 6 mo 67 (89.0)

Respondents who practiced KMC for babies

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of the practices like breastfeeding and KMC before FPCwas rolled out.

In the only study conducted in a tertiary-care hospitalin India, the average gestational age was 36.4 weeks, andmajority of the babies were full term (>75%), with anaverage weight of more than 2300 g. Around one-fourthof them required intravenous lines [3]. On the other hand,the FPC quality initiative in India at district level focuseson babies more than 1500 g not requiring oxygen andintravenous (IV) fluids. In this assessment, only 18 (24%)of the babies had weight less than or equal to 1500 g whodid not require oxygen or IV fluids but received FPC.Absence of oxygen or IV fluids, irrespective of weightand gestational age, appears to be a more practicalapproach to identify eligible FPC participants in healthsystems settings.

One of the benefits of FPC noticed in the study wasimproved implementation of KMC. Reports from Indiahave reported duration of KMC per day to be 3-5 hours inNICUs [12-14]. Interventions such as presence ofphysician champions and quality improvement projectshave increased the duration of KMC to 6 hours or moreper day [13,14]. In our assessment, it was 1.7 hours onone occasion that would translate to more than 6 hours aday if repeated 3-6 times. There is ample scope tostrengthen it further. Reports suggest that breastfeedingrates decline after admission to newborn units [15-17]. Inthis assessment, 93.3% of newborns were given breastmilk which suggests that FPC might promote thebreastfeeding practices as per the national guidelines[18].

FPC has now been accepted in most of the facilities asper the national guidelines. However, three inputs aresuggested for further strengthening of FPC implemen-tation in SNCU units: supportive supervision for FPCshould be an integral component of overall supportivesupervision in newborn facilities; infrastructure should bestrengthened to provide more amenities to mothers; morefocus should be given on increasing the duration of FPC.

Multiple innovative ways can be explored for increasingduration of FPC by mothers.

To summarize, FPC needs to be rolled out withinhealth systems along with strengthening of healthinfrastructure and service delivery. However, more robustresearch is needed to understand the impact of FPC onclinical and developmental outcomes within public healthsettings.

Contributors: HK,AB: conceptualized the study design andmethods and provided inputs on the manuscript; VA, AM:provided inputs during the execution of the study and providedcritical inputs on the manuscript; RK: supervised the datacollection process, performed analysis and interpreted resultsand provided inputs in the manuscript; SBN: reviewed theliterature and drafted the manuscript; AK: facilitated in the studyin the health system settings and provided inputs on themanuscript; All the authors reviewed and approved the finaldraft.Funding: National Health Mission, Government of India;Competing Interest: None stated.

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WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN?

• Family participatory care (FPC) is effective for improving care of newborn admitted to neonatal units.

• It improves breastfeeding, and reduces duration of stay in hospitals and maternal anxiety.

WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS?

• It is feasible to implement FPC as Special Newborn Care Unit quality improvement initiative in health systemssettings.

• FPC is easy to initiate but needs strong health systems support for optimal results.

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