Metrics details. African newborns undergo numerous traditional and religious practices ranging from fontanelle fomentation to total head shaving, scalp molding, skin scarification and ano-genital irrigation which can negatively impact the health of neonates. Hot fomentation of fontanelles has been a predominant indigenous home-based postnatal practice in Ghana and among Africans in the diaspora.
Mobility restrictions during the Covid pandemic has impacted direct access to facility-based care as well as home care. The flourishing of newborn traditional practices among African populations during this Covid pandemic offers opportunities to rethink the provision of family healthcare support for newborns during the ongoing pandemic and beyond.
Hence, the aim of this critical review was to examine and describe a common indigenous practice—hot fontanelle fomentation to inform home birth support, discharge planning, and the delivery of optimal home-based care support.
Sixty articles were reviewed; however, 10 manuscripts were excluded prior to screening. The other 19 were exempted because they were either below or were not the best fit for the study purpose. In all, 31 studies were included in the study. The current study identifies hot fomentation of newborn fontanelles practices in Ghana, the description of hot fomentation practices and the dangers associated with it. The findings and suggested ways to help overcome this challenge. There are several neonatal indigenous practices including fontanelle fomentation which pose threat to the health of the neonate as discussed in this study.
Future research needs to investigate innovative ways of fontanelle fomentation where necessary instead of the use of hot water by mothers, especially in this Covid pandemic where health and mobility restrictions impact physical access to timely health care.
