The Association Between Maternity Waiting Home Use and Maternal-Newborn Knowledge: Latent Class Analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE An exploratory latent class analysis (LCA) was performed assessing the association between maternity waiting home (MWH) use and maternal-newborn care knowledge. METHODS A two-group comparison design using a face-to-face interview (n = 250) was conducted to understand if MWH use was associated with greater maternal knowledge of newborn care. RESULTS High levels of maternal knowledge of newborn care were associated with MWH use. Mothers with low levels of knowledge were less likely to use an MWH prior to delivery and more likely to have fewer pregnancies, attend less than four antenatal care (ANC) visits, and receive no education about newborn health problems during ANC. CONCLUSIONS Nurses need to target younger, primigravida mothers attending fewer ANC visits with educational opportunities while advocating for expansion of health education at MWHs to potentiate long-term benefits for improved maternal-newborn health and delivery outcomes.