Compliance with essential newborn care practices: Findings from a multiregional pilot survey

Essential newborn care supports physiological adaptation and neonatal safety, but consistency of implementation may vary across service settings. Objective: To describe compliance with essential newborn care, identify components requiring improvement, and analyze score differences according to provider characteristics. This cross-sectional pilot analysis included 32 responses from health workers across several Indonesian regions. Twenty-eight items were scored 2 when performed according to standard, 1 when partially or incompletely performed, and 0 when not performed; non-applicable or unassessable responses were excluded from denominators. Composite and domain scores were summarized descriptively, while group differences were examined using Kruskal-Wallis tests. The mean composite score was 97.50% with a standard deviation of 6.17, the median was 100.00%, and 30 respondents, or 93.8%, were categorized as having very good compliance. The lowest domain was skin-to-skin contact and early breastfeeding initiation at 94.53%.