Abstract

Introduction: Jaundice is one of the most common conditions which need medical attention in newborn babies. In most babies with jaundice there is no underlying disease, and this early jaundice is termed as physiological jaundice.
Objectives: To determine the incidence of Neonatal jaundice by Kramer’s criteria among Newborns in the Postnatal ward. To assess the risk factors that leads to Neonatal Jaundice.
Methodology: The research approach was Quantitative approach and Non experimental research design was adopted for this study. The sample size was 80 Newborns and purposive sampling technique was used. The data was collected by using Kramer’s criteria. Results were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results and findings: Out of 80 babies, 20 babies had Neonatal jaundice, total incidence rate was 25%. 43(53.8%) babies were in female sex group and 37(46.2%) babies were in male sex group According to the risk factors Majority 14(17.5%) of neonates had not given colostrums given at birth, 15(8.8%) of neonates had not initiated breastfeed within 24 hours of birth, 1(1.2%) of neonates had previous history of jaundice in siblings. According to mothers risk factors 7(8.8%) of mothers had Gestational hypertension, 7(8.8%) of mothers had Gestational diabetes mellitus, 2(2.5%) of mothers had hypothyroidism during pregnancy. There was significant association observed with the post test scores with their selected demographic variables like colostrum intake by the Newborn.
Conclusion: “Visual inspection of Neonatal jaundice by using Kramer’s criteria” is a suitable low-cost and a feasible alternative modality for early detection of neonatal jaundice in a poor resource setting.

Keywords: Neonatal jaundice; Newborn; Kramer’s criteria; Postnatal ward