Strengthening Family, Midwife, and Community Health Cadre Support in Home Care for Low Birth Weight Infants

Maryatun (Universitas Aisyiyah Surakarta)
Dyah Rahmawatie RBU (Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Surakarta Indonesia)
Indarwati Chelsea Maharani (Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Surakarta Indonesia)
Ariqoh Fathi Muthi’ah (Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Surakarta Indonesia)
Ilyasa Mifta Husnul Khotimah (Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Surakarta Indonesia)
Latifah Mutiara Sari (Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Surakarta Indonesia)

International Journal of Community Service (IJCS)
Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026): July-December

Low birth weight infants require continuous care after discharge from health facilities due to their vulnerability to nutritional problems, hypothermia, infection, and growth disturbances. During home-based care, mothers serve as the primary caregivers; however, the quality and continuity of care are strongly influenced by support from family members, midwives or health professionals, and community health cadres. This community service activity aimed to describe the role of family, midwife, and cadre support in home care for low birth weight infants as a basis for strengthening community-based assistance. The activity used a descriptive approach involving partner coordination, baseline data collection, descriptive tabulation, discussion of care needs, and formulation of recommendations for strengthening community support. The target participants were 12 mothers who had infants with a birth weight of less than 2,500 grams. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire covering maternal and infant characteristics, home-care practices, family support, midwife or health professional support, cadre support, maternal difficulties, and mothers’ readiness as primary caregivers. The findings showed that most mothers still experienced difficulties in caring for low birth weight infants, particularly in breastfeeding, managing infants with poor feeding, overcoming fear when handling fragile infants, and accessing health services. Family and midwife support were relatively available, whereas cadre support still required further strengthening. This activity indicates that strengthening community support is essential to assist mothers in providing safe, continuous, and appropriate home care for low birth weight infants