The influence of community health nursing support on maternal hygiene behaviours during the postnatal period

Maternal hygiene practices during the postnatal period play a pivotal role in preventing infections, reducing maternal morbidity, and supporting overall wellbeing for both mother and newborn. Despite global progress in maternal health, postnatal hygiene remains a neglected domain in many low- and middle-income settings, where inadequate awareness, cultural restrictions, and limited access to professional guidance contribute to poor hygiene compliance. Community Health Nurses (CHNs), positioned at the interface of healthcare systems and households, are uniquely situated to deliver structured hygiene counselling and supportive follow-up. This research focusing on how continuous nurse-led education, home visits, demonstrations, and reinforcement strategies affect maternal hygiene adherence. A quasi-experimental approach was adopted to evaluate changes across key domains such as perineal hygiene, breastfeeding hygiene, hand hygiene, newborn cord care, menstrual hygiene, and household sanitation practices. Findings reveal that mothers who received CHN-led interventions exhibited significantly higher adherence to recommended hygiene behaviours compared with those receiving routine postnatal care alone. CHN support improved mothers’ ability to identify infection risks, implement preventive strategies, and sustain hygienic practices over time. The research highlights that interpersonal communication, culturally sensitive counselling, and regular follow-up are the strongest influencing factors. The results underscore the need for scaling community-based nursing interventions as a core component of postnatal care policies. Strengthening CHN involvement could substantially reduce infection-related complications, promote maternal self-efficacy, and contribute to long-term community health improvements. The research concludes that structured CHN support is a highly effective, feasible, and sustainable strategy for enhancing maternal hygiene during the postnatal period.