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.
Highlights
Antenatal care (ANC) is a key strategy to decreasing maternal mortality in low-resource settings
Agriculture as a primary activity and selling agricultural products were significantly greater among women who sought ANC, compared to women who did not attend ANC clinics (15.3% vs. 12.5%)
The proportion of women involved in two or more income generating activities was greater among women who did not attend ANC clinics compared to ANC seeking women (21.7% vs. 13.6%)
Summary
Antenatal 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. ANC clinics act as a key entry-point for implementing nutrition and health educational interventions that promote preventive health behaviours to improve maternal and neonatal health through better knowledge, attitudes and practices. Studies conducted in Turkey, Pakistan and Laos provide evidence to support the role of ANC in improving health knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among women who utilize the service [7]. In rural Laos, women who had received ANC were more likely to utilize health services at delivery and had a greater mean knowledge score regarding obstetric care compared to the women who had not received any antenatal care [10]
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