Abstract
Introduction: Maternal mortality remains a major public health problem in the world. Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the main causes of maternal mortality in low-income countries. It is estimated that 15% of deaths are related to these complications. Studies have shown that women have little or no acquaintance on sign danger and complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Limited literature exists on women’s knowledge and attitudes about pregnancy and childbirth’s complications as well as the barriers for their management, therefore necessity to carry out this study. Objective: To explore women’s knowledge and attitudes in the community about complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Method: A qualitative study was conducted in three prefectures of Guinea. Eighteen focus groups were conducted with women of reproductive age living in urban and rural areas. Results: Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are common among pregnant women in Guinea. Many women have knowledge about various sorts of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. These complications were mostly vaginal bleeding, abortions and maternal mortality. The use of a health facility in case of complications during pregnancy and childbirth was reported as a major attitude in this study. Accompanying the woman to the health facility was another attitude identified. Lack of financial means, the distance from the health facilities and the lack of means of transport were listed as barriers to the management of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Conclusion: This study showed that women’s knowledge and attitudes about obstetric complications are insufficient. To that effect, women counselling during prenatal consultations on the risks of complications and especially the identification of sign danger during pregnancy and childbirth is essential to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in our less equipped countries.
Highlights
Maternal mortality remains a major public health problem in the world
It is estimated that 40% of women experienced complications during pregnancy and 15% of these are fatal [3] [4] [5]
Several studies in Africa have shown that women have little knowledge of complications during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period [6] [7] [8]
Summary
Maternal mortality remains a major public health problem in the world. Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the main causes of maternal mortality in low-income countries. The use of a health facility in case of complications during pregnancy and childbirth was reported as a major attitude in this study. The main causes of maternal mortality in the low-income countries are complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Several studies in Africa have shown that women have little knowledge of complications during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period [6] [7] [8]. The scarcity of data in the on the women’s knowledge literature and attitudes concerning complications during pregnancy and childbirth, especially in low-income countries such as Guinea, motivated this study
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