[“Forgetting” the newborn: An anthropological analysis in Mauritania].

INTRODUCTION

In Mauritania, as in other West African countries, a series of actions has been taken to combat neonatal mortality. Considering the mixed success of these programs, we wondered how health workers are investing in neonatal care.

METHOD

An anthropological study was carried out in a locality in the Senegal River Valley. The surveys consisted of an ethnography of a health center, which resulted in detailed observations of care and interviews with health workers.

RESULTS

Our observations reveal that in the crucial minutes and hours following a normal birth, the attention of caregivers tends to turn away from the newborn. Recommended care such as keeping warm, examining and monitoring the newborn is not provided, while early breast-feeding occurs in a fluctuating manner. The newborn is quickly handed over to the family. Newborn care is thus "forgotten", both in the sequence of actions around childbirth and in the collective distribution of professional responsibilities.

DISCUSSION

Newborn care at birth remains poorly medicalized. We analyze the least involvement of health workers with newborns in two aspects : the perception of the uncertainty of neonatal survival, and the predominance of local childbearing. We are making proposals to put the spotlight back on the newborn in order to promote a better quality of neonatal care.