ABSTRACT
Background
Antenatal period is the interval from conception to the delivery of the fetus. This period is usually associated with physiological and psychological changes. ANC is the process whereby mother and fetus are critically examined throughout the antenatal period. It is a form of preventive medicine in which risk factors are identified early and interventions are made. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women towards routine antenatal care.
Methodology
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on the knowledge, attitude and practice among pregnant women attending antenatal care in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo state. The study population included all women attending antenatal care clinic within the age range of 18-45 years. The final sample size was 420 pregnant women. A self administered questionnaire was used to collect data and statistical package for social sciences was used for data analysis. The association between socio-demographic variables and knowledge,attitude and practice of antenatal care was analyzed using Chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test where applicable. Descriptive data were expressed as frequencies, percentages and means + standard deviation. The level of significance was set at p <0.05 at 95% confidence interval. Results were presented in forms of prose, tables, bar charts and pie charts
Results
More than half of the respondents 224 (53.3%) were within the ages of 25 – 31 years with a mean age of 30.04 ± 5.03. Slightly above half 217 (51.7%) of the respondent were Benin and most 407 (96.9%) of the respondents were Christians. The majority 402 (95.8%) of the respondent were married and most 315 (75.0%) had a tertiary level of education. A higher proportion of the respondents 160 (38.1%) were nulliparous and 155 (36.9%) of the respondents were primigravida. Most of the respondents 303 (72.1%) had good knowledge, most 339 ( 80.7%) had positive attitude and 358 (85.2%) had appropriate practice.
Conclusion
About three quarters of the respondents had good knowledge, more than three quarters of the respondents had positive attitude and more than three quarters of the respondents had appropriate practice regarding routine antenatal care in the university of Benin Teaching Hospital. The factor affecting antenatal care include the level of education, trimester, parity, gravidity.
