Health and nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices of pregnant women attending and not-attending ANC clinics in Western Kenya: a cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

BackgroundAntenatal care (ANC) is a key strategy to decreasing maternal mortality in low-resource settings. ANC clinics provide resources to improve nutrition and health knowledge and promote preventive health practices. We sought to compare the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) among women seeking and not-seeking ANC in rural Kenya.MethodsData from a community-based cross-sectional survey conducted in Western Province, Kenya were used. Nutrition knowledge (NKS), health knowledge (HKS), attitude score (AS), and dietary diversity score (DDS) were constructed indices. χ2 test and Student’s t-test were used to compare proportions and means, respectively, to assess the difference in KAP among pregnant women attending and not-attending ANC clinics. Multiple regression analyses were used to assess the impact of the number of ANC visits (none, <4, ≥4) on knowledge and practice scores, adjusting for maternal socio-demographic confounders, such as age, gestational age, education level and household wealth index.ResultsAmong the 979 pregnant women in the survey, 59% had attended ANC clinics while 39% had not. The mean (±SD) NKS was 4.6 (1.9) out of 11, HKS was 6.2 (1.7) out of 12, DDS was 4.9 (1.4) out of 12, and AS was 7.4 (2.2) out of 10. Nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and DDS were not significantly different between ANC clinic attending and non-attending women. Among women who attended ANC clinics, 82.6% received malaria and/or antihelmintic treatment, compared to 29.6% of ANC clinic non-attendees. Higher number of ANC clinic visits and higher maternal education level were significantly positively associated with maternal health knowledge.ConclusionsSubstantial opportunities exist for antenatal KAP improvement among women in Western Kenya, some of which could occur with greater ANC attendance. Further research is needed to understand multi-level factors that may affect maternal knowledge and practices.

Nutritional knowledge, attitude and practices among pregnant women who attend antenatal care at public hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…The difference may be accessibility of variety of foods in cities than districts. Majority of the mothers in this study, 204 (63.4%) had a good iron supply during pregnancy, which is similar with the study conducted in Western Kenya (62%) (Perumal et al, 2013). This study revealed that, 111(34.5%) of the pregnant mothers had good nutritional practices, which is similar to the study conducted in the East Wollega (Berg et al, 2011).…”

Nutritional Status and Nutritional Knowledge of Malay Pregnant Women in Selected Private Hospitals in Klang Valley

“…Participants of this study received education on antenatal care which includes dietary aspect during antenatal class. However, this fi nding is inconsistent with a recent study in Western Kenya which reported that gestational age was negatively associated with health knowledge score suggesting that a delay in seeking antenatal clinic may contribute to less health knowledge as the opportunities to receive advice and education are reduced (Perumal et al 2013).…”

Knowledge on dietary patterns among pregnant women attending antenatal care check-up in Narayani hospital, Nepal

“…In the study the mean months of pregnancy during ANC visit was 3.4 months whereas similar study conducted by Perumal et al shows the mean months of pregnancy during ANC visit was 4.5 months. 9,10 These studies showed that of the total sampled 96 pregnant women interviewed all knew about nutrition and slightly more than one third of the pregnant women knew about nutrition from their family, neighbours and friends. Almost half 47 (48.9%) of the pregnant women answered meat, milk, ghee and eggs as nutritional food and only one-third 31 (32.3%) pregnant women knew right answer about types of nutritional food.…”

“…The same study showed slightly more than one third (32.9%) pregnant women had low knowledge on nutrition. 10 The study by Arkkola suggest that proper nutrition during pregnancy is considered important for the wellbeing of both mother and foetus and also it showed that maternal nutrition affects the growth and development of the foetus, and also later health outcomes in the offspring. There is strong association between level of dietary pattern and maternal health outcomes.…”