Knowledge and attitude of antenental mothers towards danger signs in pregnancy in lusaka urban

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of antenatal mothers towards danger signs in pregnancy in selected Lusaka Urban clinics. The major hypothesis for this study was inadequate health education on danger signs in pregnancy may contribute to women being unaware on the danger signs in pregnancy. A descriptive, non interventional, cross section study design was used to determine the levels of knowledge and attitude of pregnant women towards danger signs in pregnancy. Data was collected using a structured interview schedule from 50 respondents. The study populations consisted of women attending antenatal clinic at five selected health centers. The sampling procedure involved the use of purposive sampling in choosing the five antenatal clinic and simple random sampling for choosing the 50 respondents. The study results revealed that (50) 100% of respondents participated in the health education during antenatal clinics but only 18% were taught on the danger signs in pregnancy .It further revealed that 80% of the respondents who had low educational level had inadequate knowledge on the danger signs. Despite the respondents having inadequate knowledge on the danger signs in pregnancy, the study revealed that 83.3% had positive attitude towards danger signs in pregnancy as they indicated that they would seek help from the clinic if they experienced any danger signs in pregnancy. The study further revealed that out of the 46% who indicated that they got the information from the Community Health Workers 44% had inadequate knowledge on the danger signs and 2% had moderate knowledge. There was a relationship between inadequate IEC given on danger signs in pregnancy contributing to inadequate levels of knowledge on danger signs in pregnancy (the P-value was 0.041). However, there was no relationship between the low educational levels of antenatal mothers and low levels of knowledge on the danger signs in pregnancy (the p-value was 0.995). Recommendations have been made: Ministry of Health should ensure that Community Health Workers are trained or offered with refresher courses on the danger signs in pregnancy. Lusaka Health District Management Team should intensify awareness programs on the danger signs in pregnancy with some modification in the presentation of information by use of pictures, also use of language that the women will understand.