Abstract
Self-medication in pregnancy is a health concern in Ghana. We assessed the practice among 136 pregnant women in Effutu and Agona West Municipalities using facility-based, cross-sectional design and mixed method approach of data collection. Data analysis used SPSS and manual content analysis. Results show that pregnant women of all backgrounds self-medicate, with prevalence of 69%, motivated by cheaper treatment cost (17%), minor ailments (29%) and positive outcomes (33%). Commonly used medications include antibiotics (23%), pain killers (20%) and herbal preparations (19%). Preventing self-medication in pregnancy therefore requires awareness creation and evidence based Social Behavioral Change Communication on associated dangers.
Highlights
Self-medication is a global phenomenon that has attracted lots of public and professional concerns[5,6,14,16]
The findings indicated that the decision to self-medicate is driven by desire for prompt relief from pregnancy related challenges and the desire to achieve positive pregnancy outcomes
Self-medication appeared to have been a common practice among pregnant women of all background characteristics in the study area
Summary
Self-medication is a global phenomenon that has attracted lots of public and professional concerns[5,6,14,16]. It is estimated that one third and half of the population in the US and UK respectively practice self-medication[3]. Pregnancy is not a state of ill health or disease. It still remains a health risk (Speidel, Rocca, Thompson & Harper, 2013). Harmful to mother and fetus, most pregnant women self-medicate with drugs which either do not provide adequate information on safety in pregnancy or are not endorsed for use by pregnant women[8,23]
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