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Introduction: Pregnant anaemia is a significant public health concern in developing countries such as India. Objectives: The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and determine the dietary predictors of anaemia among antenatal mothers. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional research design was adopted for the study. A consecutive sampling technique was used to select 400 antenatal mothers. The data were collected using a questionnaire, rating scale, and checklist, and they were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The prevalence of anaemia among antenatal mothers was estimated to be 24.84%. Within the sample, 58% had mild anaemia, 39.5% had moderate anaemia, and 2.5% had severe anaemia. There was a highly significant association between anaemia and various dietary predictors. The study revealed that 23.5% of antenatal mothers had insufficient consumption of a diverse diet. Seventy-six percent (76%) of antenatal mothers consumed a sufficient amount of a diverse diet, while only 0.5% of antenatal mothers adequately consumed a diverse diet. The majority of antenatal mothers (80%) had a high dietary diversity ensuring adequate nutrient intake, while 20% of antenatal mothers had low dietary diversity, indicating inadequate consumption of a variety of foods that provide sufficient nutrients. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for antenatal mothers to prioritize a diverse diet and maintain adequate haemoglobin levels for a positive pregnancy outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus is a public health concern and one of the causes of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. Gestational diabetes is one of the most common health issue that can occur during pregnancy.it happens when the mother is first diagnosed with diabetes during the pregnancy. The minimizing factors for gestational diabetes are adequate knowledge about the condition for early detection and treatment; healthy practices on diet and physical activeness. Awareness of the condition among antenatal women will translate into adoption of a healthy lifestyle, better health-seeking pattern, better self-care practice, which prevent acute complications and reduce the risk of long-term complications and promote pregnancy outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antenatal Care (ANC) includes education, counseling, screening and treatment to monitor and promote the well-being of the mother and fetus. However, the utilization of ANC services is a complex phenomenon influenced by many factors, such as maternal education, maternal employment, accessibility, affordability, family support and decision-making power etc. Objectives: 1. To determine the extent of utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services among antenatal mothers. 2. To identify the factors affecting utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services among antenatal mothers. Materials and methods: An exploratory study was conducted to assess the factors affecting utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services among antenatal mothers at selected rural communities of Amritsar. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 60 antenatal mothers. Data was collected using the semi structured questionnaire to assess the factors affecting utilization of antenatal care services among antenatal mothers. Results: Most of antenatal mothers (93.3%) were registered and 4(6.7%) were not registered for their pregnancy (investigator came to know at the time of home visit). 50(83.3%) antenatal mothers had adequately utilized antenatal care services. Major factors which affect the utilization of ANC services as reported by antenatal mothers were accessibility (53.3%), family support (33.3%), affordability (26.7%). Conclusion: There is adequate utilization of ANC services though some factors act as barrier in the utilization of ANC services. Health care professionals should determine the factors causing poor or irregular utilization of antenatal care services and find the ways to improve it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus has become one of the very common perinatal complications. It is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism diagnosed during pregnancy. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and lifestyle modification regarding gestational diabetes mellitus among antenatal mothers. Methodology: A Cross-sectional design was used and the study was conducted in the antenatal OPD of a tertiary care teaching hospital of Western Rajasthan. The study included 140 antenatal mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus and seeking antenatal care at antenatal OPD by purposive sampling technique. Knowledge was assessed using structured knowledge questionnaire and lifestyle modification by a structured Rating scale. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Majority of the mothers in this study had fair knowledge (83.6%) followed by 10.7% having poor and 5.7% with good knowledge. Majority of mothers (97.1%) developed good level of lifestyle modification after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes and 2.9% had fair level of lifestyle modification. A very weak correlation was found between the knowledge and lifestyle modification (r=0.085). Only level of education was found to be significantly associated with knowledge regarding gestational diabetes (p = <0.01). Conclusion: Since the prevalence of gestational diabetes is increasing, there should be good knowledge and awareness regarding gestational diabetes among antenatal mothers. Health care providers should create awareness and improve knowledge of the mothers regarding gestational diabetes and its possible long term complications [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological changes that happen during pregnancy and after delivery may affect every mother's quality of life. They may face chronic back pain and incontinence issues due to negligence of postnatal exercises. Though a large volume of scientific evidence suggests that post natal exercises are beneficial for preventing disorders and dysfunctions, we were interested in investigating the present level of knowledge regarding the therapeutic benefits of postnatal exercises among antenatal mothers. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional prospective hospital-based study was carried out among 62 antenatal mothers by handing out a structured postnatal exercise knowledge assessment questionnaire. The result showed that majority of mothers who were admitted at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City in their third trimester had knowledge regarding postnatal exercises representing (70.53%) of the total participants, whereas only (29.47 %) of mothers were unaware of the benefits of postnatal exercises. However the mothers who had knowledge about the benefits of postnatal exercises were not all at the same level of awareness, which means that there were variations among their responses in each item of the questionnaire. It is evident from this study that higher number of antenatal mothers, who were admitted in King Abdul-Aziz Medical City in their third trimester, had knowledge regarding benefits of postnatal exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nutritional requirement increases during pregnancy can influence the growth, development, and health of the mother and her newborn child. Understanding the antenatal mothers' nutrition knowledge is essential to developing effective strategies to curb malnutrition and encouraging healthier dietary behaviors. The aim of this study was to assess the level and associated factors of nutritional knowledge during pregnancy among antenatal mothers in a tertiary teaching hospital in northeast Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 88 randomly selected antenatal mothers at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic during their antenatal care visits. Data was collected using a pretested self-administered questionnaire between December 2015 and February 2016. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine the association of selected socio-demographic variables and obstetric data with nutritional knowledge score among antenatal mothers. Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.06 ± 5.56 years. More than half (63.6%) of the antenatal mothers had good nutritional knowledge level. Higher occupational status (p=0.030) and monthly household income (p=0.016) of participants were significantly associated with higher nutritional knowledge score. Conclusion: These findings highlight the current knowledge gap that exists in antenatal mothers. It can be concluded that nutritional education ought to be intensified to address this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wellbeing of the society is directly linked to the health and survival of the mother and child. Although the birth of a child is one of the happiest events in all over the world, yet pregnancy and child birth are associated with the health risks to many women during their reproductive years. Aim: Study the effectiveness of awareness program on warning signs of pregnancy among antenatal mothers. Material & Method-Quantitative quasi-experimental design was trailed to obtain bias free results. One Hundred antenatal mothers who were aged more than 17 years and first and second trimester of pregnancy were conveniently selected to observe the study variables. Self-developed and validated questionnaire was used to collect the information from the antenatal mothers regarding warning signs of pregnancy. Results: In pre-test antenatal mothers showed a subnormal (48.2%) knowledge score regarding warning signs of pregnancy. Since, the awareness program was executed among the study participants the mothers knowledge score was raised to conspicuous (71.6%) manner. The inferential statistics demonstrated that the mothers knowledge regarding warning signs of pregnancy was influenced by their age, educational status, occupation, type of family, family monthly income, residence and gravida status at the significant level of p<0.05. Conclusion: It is evident that awareness program will motivate the antenatal mothers and help them to acquire knowledge about warning signs of pregnancy will promote adequate practice in them to ensure maternal and fetal well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Anaemia in pregnancy is still a major concern in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in India particularly in rural population. Haemoglobinopathies are important contributors to anaemia in pregnancy in rural India particularly in tribal population. Beta thalassemia is the commonest type of haemoglobinopathy all over the world. Thalassemia and other haemoglobinopathies are highly prevalent among the tribal communities in West Bengal. Bankura is one of the districts of West Bengal where more tribal population are present. So detection and prevention of thalassemias is one of the major public health problems in this part of the state of West Bengal.Study done by Manna et al4 showed that about 10% of the population is carrier of haemoglobin disorder.This study was taken up to document the recent prevalence status of hemoglobinopathies particularly Thalassemias and coexistence of iron deficiency anaemias Objective: To find out prevalence of haemoglobinopathies and to compare the prevalence of different types of Thalassemias among the antenatal mothers. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in Bankura Sammilani Medical College (BSMC), Bankura West Bengal among 3500 tribal and non-tribal antenatal mothers. Cation exchange-high performance liquid chromatography (CE-HPLC) is being used for investigation for hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias. Together with a complete blood count, the CE-HPLC is effective in categorizing hemoglobinopathies as traits, homozygous disorders and compound heterozygous disorders. Results: In our study 275 mothers had haemoglobinopathy. The commonest disorder we encountered was Beta Thalassemia trait (57.5%), followed by HbE carrier (36%), homozygous HbE disease (1%), HbS carrier (4%), HbE Beta Thalassemia (1.5%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Labor pain is known and defined as one of the most severe varieties of pain. As a result, an appropriate pain management plan is important both for a successful delivery and to decrease the pain as much as it possible. A variety of analgesics for delivery are used in different regions of the world. Epidural analgesia is the most frequently used method of pain control. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of antenatal mothers regarding painless delivery and to find out the deficit areas with the view to prepare a pamphlet for the same. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An exploratory research approach and non experimental research design was used to assess the knowledge and attitude of 100 antenatal mothers regarding painless delivery who were selected by using purposive sampling technique. The present study was conducted in the antenatal clinic at Christian Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect the relevant data and attitude scale was also used for the same. RESULTS: This study revealed that most of the antenatal mothers (44%) had average knowledge and a majority of the antenatal mothers i.e. 80% had positive attitude towards painless delivery. The relationship between knowledge and attitude of antenatal mothers was moderately positive regarding painless delivery. Education, occupation, family income, source of information, place of living were found significantly associated with the both knowledge and attitude of antenatal mothers regarding painless delivery. CONCLUSION: Although knowledge of antenatal mothers regarding painless delivery is inadequate but their attitude towards painless delivery was positive. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a need to educate them about availability of painless delivery option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnancy is the vital event in the life of a woman. It needs special attention from the time of conception to the postnatal stage. Preparing for the childbirth is one of the most exciting times for a woman. The present study was aimed to determine the extent of birth preparedness and to find out the association of birth preparedness among antenatal mothers with selected demographic variables. An exploratory study was carried out among antenatal mothers residing at selected villages of Amritsar, Punjab. Data was collected from 100 antenatal mothers by convenient sampling technique. Birth preparedness interview schedule was adopted. Out of 100 antenatal mothers 69% had poor extent of birth preparedness followed by 31% had average birth preparedness. Majority (90%) of antenatal mothers had identified the place of delivery, 83% had identified the skilled birth attendant, 69% had arranged the transportation for delivery, 35% had saved money for delivery and only 10% had arranged the blood donor in case of an emergency. Seventy five percent, forty nine percent and forty one percent antenatal mothers knew ≤3 danger signs during pregnancy, childbirth and first two days after birth respectively and sixty six percent antenatal mothers knew ≤3 danger signs during the first seven days after birth that could endanger the life of new-born. Factors which showed significant association on birth preparedness was age, education, socio economic status and trimester at (p<0.05). It concluded that age, education, socio economic status and trimester resulted in better birth preparedness in the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Birth defects (BD) are considered a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. Personal, cultural, and health care system barriers may increase the incidence of BD in low and middle income countries. In this study we assessed the knowledge of antenatal mothers on BD, associated factors, and prevention and management.Methods: Three hundred and fifty (350) antenatal mothers were surveyed using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire. The knowledge on BD was evaluated under 3 categories; knowledge on BD, knowledge on associated factors, and knowledge on prevention and management. The total scores were calculated for each category and converted into percentages. A higher percentage score indicates a high level of knowledge. Descriptive statistics and regression models were used for data analysis. Level of significance was considered as p < 0.05.Results: Mean age of the participants was 28.7 years (SD = 5.2). The age range was 17-44 years. Most of the participants (79%) had studied up to secondary or tertiary education. The average scores of knowledge on BD, associated factors, and prevention and management of BD were 57.6% (95% CI = 52.3-62.9%), 55.1% (95% CI = 49.8-60.4%) and 58.8% (95% CI = 53.5-64.1%) respectively. The average score on the overall total knowledge was 56.4% (95% CI = 51.1-61.7%). Mother's level of education, monthly income of the family and number of clinic visits made by the mother were found to be positively associated with the overall knowledge. About 62% of the participants had taken folic acid (FA) preconceptionally, a major preventive factor of BD associated with the nervous system. Folic acid intake was positively associated with age and educational level, but negatively associated with parity. Media (36.9%) and Public Health Midwives (PHMs) (20%) were found to be the major sources of knowledge on BD, associated factors and prevention in this target group.Conclusions: The average overall knowledge on BD in this group of antenatal mothers was moderate. Thus, there is a need to improve the knowledge in eligible women to reduce the occurrence of BD, ideally before they become pregnant. Media and PHMs were seem to be the effective and possible resources that can be used to educate the community on BD, associated factors and prevention of BD in Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]