The descriptive cross-sectional survey on midwives and pediatric/obstetric assistant doctors who directly provide services in health facilities at the provincial, district and commune levels of some Northern mountainous and Central Highlands provinces. Results: the mean knowledge score of respondents at all 3 levels on monitoring newborn within the 1st day after delivery was relatively high (73.9/100 points)
the mean knowledge score on monitoring newborns in the first week after delivery was medium (60.6/100 points), that on counseling for postpartum women reached the fairly average (66.3/100 points). The understanding of the survey subjects on the principles of infection control was rather good, with an average knowledge score of the all levels was 75.7/100 points
their knowledge on the process of medical instrument sterilization was also quite good (72.2/100 points). In general, the knowledge on the survey contents of the subjects at the communal level was rather much worse than that of those at the provincial and district levels.