Nurses' knowledge and women's awareness of pre-conception care

Abstract

Background: Pre-conception care is an intervention to optimise a woman's health before pregnancy to improve maternal and newborn outcomes. Aims: To determine the nurses' knowledge and pregnant women's awareness of pre-conception care in selected hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was used. A total of 187 nurses and 298 pregnant women were selected using systematic random sampling. Findings: Results showed that 17% (n=50) of the pregnant women were aware of pre-conception care. A majority of nurses (n=123; 65.8%) had good knowledge of pre-conception care and 82.9% (n=155) agreed that it was a primary strategy that prevented adverse pregnancy outcomes. Conclusions: The study suggests the need for midwives and other health professionals to ensure that women are encouraged to register for pre-conception care as early as possible, so as to ensure proper maternity care, early identification of risk and early management.