Abstract
BackgroundOccurrence of birth defects (BD) remains an important public health issue. Inadequate knowledge about the defects among prospective mothers could result in delayed interventions. The study determined the knowledge of BD among pregnant women in relation to their socio-demographic profile.MethodFour hundred and forty-three (443) pregnant women gave their consent to participate in this study. A researcher-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics from the participants and their knowledge about BD. The questionnaire was assessed for test re-test reliability before been administered. The possible scores on the knowledge domain of the questionnaire were categorized into three levels: low knowledge (0–4), moderate knowledge (5–8) and high knowledge (9–12) levels. Data were analyzed using percentages while Spearman’s rank correlation was used to determine the relationship between the knowledge of BD among the participants and their socio-demographic profile. Alpha level was set at p < 0.05.ResultsA greater proportion of the participants, 235(53.0%) were found in the age range 21 to 30 years, and 234(52.8%) attained secondary level of education. Majority of the participants, 205(46.3%) had high knowledge on the risk factors while 213(48.1%) and 224(50.6%) had moderate overall knowledge and specific knowledge about BD respectively. Most of the participants (48.1%) believed that BD were of supernatural origin. The age, level of education, number of antenatal visits and parity of the participants were not significantly correlated (p > 0.05) with their specific and overall knowledge.ConclusionsParticpants generally had moderate knowledge about BD. However, this had no bearing on their socio-demographic profile. The knowledge base about BD seems to be influenced by traditional belief of the participants. This finding should therefore serve as a guide for health care providers while planning awareness campaign about BD.
Highlights
Occurrence of birth defects (BD) remains an important public health issue
Most of the participants (48.1%) believed that BD were of supernatural origin
The knowledge base about BD seems to be influenced by traditional belief of the participants
Summary
Occurrence of birth defects (BD) remains an important public health issue. Birth defects (BD) are a significant but under-recognized cause of mortality and disability among infants and children under five years of age. The BD is one of the causes of spontaneous abortion and still birth and it remains a cardinal Millennium Development Goal for the year 1990–2015 targeted towards reducing mortality rate of children [2]. About 94% of infants born with BD were reported to come from the middle and low income countries and it recorded 95% of the death of such children from BD [4]. A high percentage of women over the age of 35 years gave birth without the availability of community education, family planning services, medical genetic screening, prenatal diagnosis and other associated services in most developing countries [6]
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