Obstetric long commentary: A survey of the knowledge and attitude related to the antenantal procedures amongst expectant mothers at the kenyatta National Hospital
Abstract
This was a prospective descriptive study, which surveyed the
knowledge and attitude related to the antenatal procedures amongst
expectant mothers at the Kenyatta National Hospital between April
and June 1991.
Mothers who had completed their antenatal care and who delivered at
the maternity unit of the hospital during the study period were
sampled and a total of 490 mothers selected for the study. The
mothers interviewed constituted 24.0% of the total deliveries
recorded at the Kenyatta National Hospital, during the study
period.
The overall knowledge of the antenatal procedures amongst these
mothers was found to be low. Only 18.4% of them had adequate -- knowledge while 55.2% had poor knowledge of the procedures.
The major factors affecting this knowledge of the antenatal
procedures included; the age, the occupation and the educational
level of the mothers. The older the mother was, the higher the
education level attained, and if she was employed, the more the
knowledge she had of the antenatal procedures.
This knowledge of the antenatal procedures, affected the time these
mothers started their antenatal care. Mothers with high knowledge
started their antenatal care earlier, as evidence by the fact that
31.9% of mothers with high knowledge of the antenatal procedure had
started their care by mid second trimester of pregnancy compared to
8.3% of those with low knowledge whq had started by that time.
The attitude of these mothers towards the antenatal procedures
proved hard to measure. However, taking the values they attached to
the antenatal clinic as an indicator of a positive attitude, 28.3%
of the mothers attached no value to the antenatal clinic. 23.0% of
them thought that the antenatal clinic was important so that an
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Description
thesis