Publication:

Knowledge and practice of active management of third stage of labour among nursing personnel of selected hospitals in West Bengal

Background Active management of third stage of labor is a crucial intervention to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. It involves a series of steps, such as administering uterotonic drugs, controlled cord traction, and uterine massage.

Methods Descriptive research design was used. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 48 nursing personnel working in selected hospitals of West Bengal. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview schedule and a knowledge interview schedule through interviews and an observational checklist on AMTSL through observation.

Results Study results revealed that 6.25%, 37.50%, 29.17% and 27.08% of nursing personnel had excellent, very good, good and poor knowledge, respectively and 22.92%, 33.33%, 16.67% and 27.08% of them had poor, average, good and very good practice respectively with 87.50% gap between ongoing practice of examination of placenta and practice recommended by WHO. There was a statistically significant association between practice with in-service educational training, years of experience in the labour room and knowledge of AMTSL was related to practice of AMTSL among nursing personnel (r=0.35) at 0.05 level of significance.

Conclusions It can be concluded that knowledge is associated with practice, increase in knowledge level increases practice.