Abstract
BackgroundThere is mounting evidence to support the lack of awareness among pregnant women about health consequences and long term risks associated with poor oral hygiene during pregnancy. A recognised and important point of influence is their interaction with health professionals, particularly when receiving Antenatal Care. However, there is limited evidence about the perceptions of ANC providers in Australia toward the provision of perinatal oral healthcare. This study was undertaken to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Antenatal Care (ANC) providers in New South Wales (NSW), Australia providing perinatal oral healthcare and to identify barriers to and predictors of their practices in this area.MethodsA cross sectional survey was undertaken of ANC providers (general practitioners, obstetricians/gynaecologists and midwives) practising in NSW, Australia. Participants were recruited through their professional organisations via email, postal mail, and networking at conferences. The survey addressed the domains of knowledge, attitude, barriers and practices towards oral healthcare, along with demographics. Data was entered into SPSS software and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.ResultsA total of 393 surveys (17.6% response rate) were completed comprising 124 general practitioners, 74 obstetricians/gynaecologists and 195 midwives. The results showed limited knowledge among ANC providers regarding the impact of poor maternal oral health on pregnancy/infant outcomes. Most (99%) participants agreed that maternal oral health was important yet few were discussing the importance of oral health or advising women to visit a dentist (16.4–21.5%). Further, less than a third felt they had the skills to provide oral health advice during pregnancy. ANC providers who were more knowledgeable about maternal oral health, had training and information in this area and greater experience, were more likely to engage in practices addressing the oral health of pregnant women.ConclusionThe findings suggest that ANC providers in NSW are not focussing on oral health with pregnant women. ANC providers seem willing to discuss oral health if they have appropriate education/training and information in this area. Further research at a national level is required to confirm whether these findings are similar in all Australian states.
Highlights
There is mounting evidence to support the lack of awareness among pregnant women about health consequences and long term risks associated with poor oral hygiene during pregnancy
Many expectant mothers lack awareness of the impact of their own oral health on their baby’s health. Even when they are aware that they have dental problems, only a third of pregnant women in Australia consult a dentist during pregnancy [7, 8]
Very few Antenatal Care (ANC) providers (4.1%) reported receiving education/training on oral health care during pregnancy and only 16.7% had any brochures on oral health in their practice (Table 1)
Summary
There is mounting evidence to support the lack of awareness among pregnant women about health consequences and long term risks associated with poor oral hygiene during pregnancy. Many expectant mothers lack awareness of the impact of their own oral health on their baby’s health Even when they are aware that they have dental problems, only a third of pregnant women in Australia consult a dentist during pregnancy [7, 8]. The use of dental services by pregnant women is consistently low internationally, including the United States of America (USA) (23–49%), United Kingdom (UK) (33–64%) and Greece (27%) [9,10,11] This low uptake of dental services has primarily been linked to various barriers pregnant women face, such as cost, lack of public awareness of the importance of dental health, myths about the effects of pregnancy on dental health, and concerns for fetal safety during dental treatment services [12,13,14,15]
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