Abstract:
Background: Maternal death is the most sensitive issue worldwide. Every pregnant woman faces the risk of unpredictable complications that could end in death or injury to herself or her infant. An important component of obstetric problem recognition at the community level is awareness of the warning symptoms of an obstetric complication. Raising pregnant women's awareness of obstetric risk indicators will enhance early detection of these issues and shorten the time it takes for them to decide to seek obstetric care. By conducting this research, we will provide feasible information on the level of knowledge and associated factors about obstetric danger signs among pregnant women. The findings of this study will serve as input for stakeholders to improve the service provided in health facilities.
Objective: The study aims to assess knowledge of obstetric danger signs and associated factors among pregnant women attending Antenatal care in Yeka sub-city Health centers, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Method: An Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women from November 2023 to January 2024. The data was entered using Epi info version 7 and STATA version 17 was used for analysis. Bivariate and Multivariable analysis were carried out to see the effect of each independent variable on the dependent variable was considered statistically significant, if the p-value below 0.05.
Result: From 687 respondents 326,47.6%(95%CI:43.9%-51.4%) pregnant women had good knowledge of obstetrical danger signs, mentioning at least six danger signs and 76 (11.1%) didn’t mention at least one obstetric danger sign. The most frequently mentioned danger signs are vaginal bleeding 77.9%, headache 58.3%, and blurring of vision 55.5%. The study also showed an increase in the number of pregnancies 2.21 (AOR 95% CI 1.04,4.68), with P=0.03 value associated with a higher level of knowledge.
Conclusion and Recommendation: The study showed that almost half of the respondents knew about obstetric danger signs among pregnant women, leaving the remaining half with inadequate knowledge. It recommends that health providers focus on strongly advising and educating employing various techniques during consecutive pregnancy follow-ups.
............. Thesis available at ACIPH Library