Knowledge and practices on birth preparedness and complication readiness among antenatal mothers; A study from southern province

Abstract

Background: Birth preparedness (BP) and complication readiness (CR) is a concept introduced by World Health Organization (WHO) for reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality rate of a country. This study was aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and practices on BP and CR and associated factors among antenatal mothers attending antenatal clinic (ANC) of Teaching Hospital Mahamodara (THM). Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in THM,Galle, from 200 third trimester antenatal mothers who attended to ANC using pretested self administered questionnaire from July 2016. It consisted with close ended questions in three sections; basic socio-demographic data, 47 facts about awareness of BP and CR and evaluation of practices of BP and CR based on WHO criteria. Data were analyzed using t-test, Chi-square test and logistic regression. Results: Mean age of the study participants was 29 (+/-5.34). BP and CR were known concepts by 88.5% (95% CI: 84.08% to 92.92%) participants. Knowledge on BP and CR were reported as above average in 92.5% (95% CI: 88.85 to 96.15%) and 78.0% (95% CI: 72.26% to 83.74%) mothers respectively. Mothers who practiced BP and CR were 83.5% (95% CI: 78.36% to 88.64%). Young mothers have better knowledge on BP than older mothers (OR = 3.77; 95% CI: 1.16 to 12.24). Older mothers had statistically significant better knowledge on CR (OR = 0.73; 95% CI 0.66 to 0.93). There were statistically significant positive association of knowledge on CR with ethnicity (p = 0.03), family income (p = 0.04) and parity (p = 0.03). There was statistically significant positive association with better educational level (OR=0.31, 95% CI=0.11 to 0.91) and planned pregnancy (OR=0.26, 95% CI=0.10 to 0.70) with level of practice on BP and CR. Conclusion: BP and CR were well-known concept among third trimester mothers. Level of knowledge and practices on BP and CR were satisfactory among the study sample. Women with higher maternal age had poor knowledge on BP. Women with better educational level and planned pregnancy had satisfactory practices on BP and CR.