Knowledge and practice of midwives in management of eclampsia in chipata district

Abstract

Eclampsia is the new onset of convulsions during pregnancy. The midwife is in a unique position to identify those women with a predisposition to pre-eclampsia which is a precursor to eclampsia. The purpose of the study was to determine knowledge and practice of midwives in management of eclampsia in Chipata Urban District. The major hypothesis was that "there is a relationship between knowledge and practice of midwives in management of eclampsia". A cross sectional, quantitative study design was used. The study population included midwives working at Chipata General Hospital and five (5) health centres that were conveniently selected. A sample of 50 midwives was purposively selected from the study setting. Data was collected using a self administered questionnaire. Data was analysed manually using single counting and a scientific calculator. Data from this study was presented according to the sequence and sections in the questionnaire. The findings of the study were presented in frequency tables, pie charts, histographs and bar charts to illustrate principal findings of the study to the reader. Cross tabulations of the variables helped to show clearly the relationship between demographic data and knowledge as well as demographic data and practice. The study revealed that midwives who were working at the hospital had high knowledge levels and were competent in management of eclampsia than midwives working at the clinics. The study further revealed that enrolled midwives had high levels of knowledge and were well competent in management of eclampsia as practice levels was excellent as compared to registered midwives. While 70% of respondents had high levels of knowledge, only 40% of respondents knew the steps to take when managing eclampsia. The study also revealed that magnesium sulphate the drug of choice in management of eclampsia was not always available in the hospital/clinic. Only (48%) of the respondents were testing urine for pregnant women while (52%) were not. The study revealed that only (8%) of the respondents had urinalysis reagents always while (92%) had them sometimes, rarely or never. The study therefore concludes that there is a relationship between knowledge and practice in management of eclampsia as evidenced by the majority (80%) of respondents who had high knowledge levels and also were competent in management of eclampsia as they had excellent practice levels.