BackgroundCounseling has a significant role in improving knowledge, attitude and practice outcomes of pregnant women towards medication use. Proper counseling thus could be beneficial to prevent any medication related misadventure during pregnancy. The present study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of pregnant women towards their medications, to provide counseling regarding their understanding of medication use during pregnancy and evaluate the impacts of such counseling.MethodsPre- post interventional (counseling) study was conducted at Manipal Teaching Hospital, Nepal among pregnant women who presented with complication and were prescribed at least one medication. A total of 275 pregnant women were included in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women before and after counseling. The impacts of counseling were then evaluated using suitable statistical methods.ResultsOf the total participants 229 completed the post counseling survey. Majority of the participants were in the age group 20-24 (43.2%), primigravida (59.4%) and in third trimester (58.6%). Housewives comprised 61.1% of participants and majority had received a University degree (33.2%).The mean and median scores assessed before counseling showed that there was no significant difference in the KAP scores with respect to age, trimester and gravidity whereas KAP scores with respect to occupation and level of education were statistically significant. There was an increase in mean and median KAP scores after counseling and the impacts of counseling was found to be statistically significant (p = <0.001).ConclusionCounseling had a positive impact on knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women towards medication and thus it could be considered a suitable method to encourage safe medication during pregnancy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1316-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background:Induction of labour is the process of initiating the labour by artificial means from 24 weeks of gestation. The main aim of this study is to find out the maternal and foetal outcomes after induction of labour with misoprostol and oxytocin beyond 37 weeks of gestation.Methods:This was a hospital-based observational study carried out at Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital, Nepal. Misoprostol of 25 µg was inserted in posterior fornix of vagina or oxytocin infusion was started from 2.5 units on whom induction was decided. Maternal and foetal/neonatal outcomes were observed. Collected data were analysed using SPSS and MS Excel.Results:General induction rate was found to be 7.2%. In this study, post-term pregnancy was found to be the most common reason for induction of labour. Analysis of onset of labour led to the finding that mean onset of labour was much rapid in oxytocin (6.6 h) than misoprostol (13.6 h). However, there is similarity in induction–delivery interval in both groups. Overall, the rate of normal delivery and caesarean section was found to be 64.9% and 33.2%, respectively. Similarly, normal delivery within 12 h was seen in 18.4% of the patients given with misoprostol and 43.5% in oxytocin group. Foetal distress was found as the most common reason for caesarean section. The overall occurrence of maternal complication was found to be similar in misoprostol and oxytocin groups, nausea/vomiting being the most common (36.7%) complication followed by fever (24.1%). Besides this, the most common neonatal complication found in overall cases was meconium stained liquor (49.2%).Conclusion:It was found that misoprostol was used most frequently for induction of labour compared to oxytocin. The onset of labour was found to be rapid in oxytocin than misoprostol. However, the occurrence of side effects was found to be similar in both misoprostol and oxytocin groups.

BackgroundDrugs used during pregnancy can adversely affect the health and life of the mother and unborn child. However, the fact that drugs are needed to mitigate complications during pregnancy cannot be avoided. The present study was designed to identify the common complications during pregnancy and assess the medications that have been used to mitigate those complications in an attempt to improve drug prescribing during pregnancy.MethodsA hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at Manipal Teaching Hospital, Nepal in 275 pregnant women presenting with at least one complication and the drugs prescribed for the management of those complications were analyzed.ResultsMajority of the patients in this study were in the age group 20–24 (44 %) and in the third trimester (53.8 %). Maximum patients complained pain (back, abdominal, lower abdominal, neck, pelvic) as primary complication (24.3 %) which was followed by nausea/vomiting, upper respiratory tract complications, acid reflux disease and others. Of the total prescriptions eighty six (86) did not have any medicines prescribed to the patients except multivitamins and nutritional supplements. The average drugs prescribed per patient was 2.78 in outpatient setting and 5.41 in in-patients. Ranitidine, hyoscine butylbromide, paracetamol were the most frequently prescribed medications. Antimicrobials comprised 12.8 % of total drugs prescribed and 18 % of total drugs were fixed dose combinations. Two hundred and thirty four (234) prescriptions out of 275 were prescribed by brand names. Most of the prescribed drugs were from FDA pregnancy category B and C.ConclusionThe present finding showed that pregnant patients were prescribed medications almost only when necessary and those considered safe during pregnancy were chosen to a large extent. However, few teratogenic drugs (2.49 % of total drugs prescribed) were also found to be prescribed which might need further assessments.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-016-1068-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background & Objectives:Prevention of Mother to child Transmission (PMTCT) is a global intervention which aims at preventing mother to child transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The study aims to find out knowledge of pregnant women on Mother to child Transmission (MTCT) of HIV/AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).Materials & Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out at Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal among the pregnant women who came to visit Antenatal Clinic. Data was collected using non-probability purposive sampling technique. Face to face interview was done and a structured questionnaire was developed for data collection. Data analysis and interpretation were done in SPSS and MS Excel.Results:The total number of respondents was 80 with a mean age of 27.4 years. 90% (n=72) respondents were found to be literate. 86.3% (n=69) were well aware of the knowledge on PMTCT. Majority of the respondents (40%) mentioned that radio, TV/Media were the main sources of information about HIV/AIDS. Out of 32.5% (26) who had heard about the window period, only 26.9% (n=7) gave the correct answer. 93.8% (n=75) were well known about the routes of transmission of HIV but only 10.1% (n=7) gave the correct answer about it. Further, 54% (n=43) respondents knew about the availability of drugs to reduce MTCT of HIV/AIDS.Conclusion:The level of awareness about PMTCT among antenatal mothers was satisfactory. However, knowledge was inadequate which imparts for the need of health education about MTCT of HIV/AIDS in every health facilities of Nepal.

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