Abstract:
Background: Family planning (FP) practices are common in Sri Lanka. Even though the
practices are common, the knowledge and attitudes of antenatal mothers regarding FP practices
have not studied well. Considering the wellbeing of their families after childbirth, it is an
important area to be explored.
Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge and attitudes on FP practices among antenatal mothers
attending Teaching Hospital, Mahamodara (THM)
Methods: A clinic-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out with 500
conveniently selected antenatal mothers attending THM during September to November 2019.
A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was administered. Knowledge was evaluated with
20 questions while attitude was evaluated with 10 statements. Level of knowledge was
categorized as low (0-18), moderate (19-22) and high (23-40). The type of attitude was
categorized in to two types as negative (0-25) and positive (26-40). Data were analyzed with
descriptive statistics and Chi square test using SPSS version 25.
Results: Majority (57.8%) of antenatal mothers were in 20-30 years age group, Sinhalese
(92.6%) and Buddhists (91.2%). Most of them were educated up to G.C.E. (O/L) (48.2%), had
a monthly income between LKR 20,000-50,000 (43.8%) and were in primi-parity (41.2%).
Mean (±SD) knowledge and attitude scores were 19.54 (±5.43) and 26.20 (±4.18) respectively.
Fairly, a high proportion (40.6%) had moderate level of knowledge and 32.0% had low level of
knowledge while ethnicity, religion and parity (p <0.001) were significantly associated with
the level of knowledge. Sinhalese, Buddhist women with higher parity had significantly higher
level of knowledge. Over half of the participants, (58.4%) had positive attitude on FP practices
and ethnicity (p = 0.04), religion (p = 0.03) and educational status (p = 0.02) were significantly
associated with the type of attitude.
Conclusions: Considerable proportion of antenatal mothers had moderate level of knowledge
while nearly one third had low level of knowledge on FP practices. Eventhough comparatively
greater proportion of women had positive attitude on FP practices; reasonable proportion had
negative attitude as well. Both knowldge and attitude were associated with ethnicity and
religion. Further strengthening of the awareness programmes regarding FP practices during
antenatal clinic sessions is recommended.
