Publication:

Assess the knowledge and attitude regarding antenatal care among spouses of pregnant women attending antenatal OPD in selected tertiary care hospital Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Background Antenatal care is an umbrella term used to describe the medical procedures and care that are carried out during pregnancy. Every day, approximately 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Worldwide, the annual number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births fell by 44% between 1990 and 2015, from approximately 385 to 216. The sub-Saharan African region accounted for an estimated 66% (201,000) of global maternal deaths, followed by southern Asia at 22% (66,000 deaths).Basically, only 5% of the world’s countries accounted for over half of maternal deaths.

Methods A cross-sectional hospital based study was conducted on 384 spouses attending antenatal OPD. Interview Schedule was conducted to assess their knowledge and attitude using a self-structured questionnaire. Knowledge score of spouses has been computed on the basis of correct response to 18 knowledge questions and by converting it to percentage score.

Results The mean knowledge score was 61.10% taken as the arithmetic average of all the scores.  Mean attitude score was very high 94.29% with small SD 3.87. The attitude of spouse towards antenatal care is found to be extremely high. The educational status (p<0.000), age (p<0.002), type of family (p<0.018) and average income earned per month (p<0.000) were statistically significant to the level of knowledge.

Conclusions The study shows that the knowledge and attitude among spouses of pregnant women about antenatal care is good.