Antenatal care practice and pregnancy outcome at Kudat area, Sabah, Northern Borneo

Abstract

Abstract:Women have been fulfilling their reproductive responsibility of propagating human race, many have died and many more faced death in the process of delivering babies, but this can be prevented by taking appropriated antenatal care, clean and safe delivery and essential obstetric care. Antenatal care is the first phase to be encountered once a woman has conceived. The objective of the study was to assess the antenatal (AN) care practice and pregnancy outcome of ever-married women aged 18 to 49 years old having at least one pregnancy experience, residing in kampongs of Kudat area, Sabah, East Malaysia, Northern Borneo from December 2015 to October 2016. Cross-sectional analytical study, non-probability convenient sampling method was used and 300 eligible participants were interviewed face to face by trained interviewer using pretested questionnaire. 99.3% of all the women received AN care, and 97% of the women received AN care practice (AN visit of 4 times and above). Mean AN visit was 9 times. The study revealed that overall knowledge amongst the women with good knowledge was 47.2% and low knowledge was 52.8%. Additionally, there was significant association between education and knowledge, income and knowledge, AN care practices and knowledge. But there was no significant association between AN practice and complication. Despite these results, outcomes were good and all complications were properly and successfully addressed. This may reflect the effectiveness of current national maternal health programs.

A Review of Published Literature Regarding Health Issues of Coastal Communities in Sabah, Malaysia

“…Hence, they experience difficulty in understanding and using the provided information to promote and maintain an improved health [43] despite the healthcare services provided. Insufficient knowledge and health awareness would prevent the use of appropriate healthcare resources and facilities, resulting in larger health gaps among vulnerable and susceptible populations as shown in this review and among pregnant women residing in the coastal areas in Sabah [14,17].…”

“…Several of the patients had insufficient knowledge about the numbers of antenatal visits required, the importance of anti-tetanus toxoid vaccination during pregnancy, and the birth spacing interval. Despite their insufficient knowledge regarding antenatal care, 99% of the patients received antenatal care at public healthcare facilities, and the outcomes of the pregnancies were good with 92% of the study population undergoing safe delivery without any intrapartum and postnatal complications [17].…”

“…A total of 11 articles were finally considered and included in this review. Overall, the most recent articles were published in 2017 [13][14][15][16][17], and the oldest article was published in 2010 [18]. All of the included articles were descriptive studies.…”

“…Five out of the 11 articles reported on malaria infection [13,[19][20][21][22], two of the articles reported on seafood poisoning [15,16], and two articles reported on tuberculosis (TB) disease [18,23]. A study assessed the antenatal care practice and pregnancy outcome [17], and another study measured iodine status among pregnant women [14]. Overall, the 11 appraised articles had good-quality evidence ranging from 77% to 100% based on the assessment conducted.…”