Knowledge on management of anemia during pregnancy: A descriptive study

Background of the study: The growing fetus depends entirely on its mother′s healthy body for all needs. However, sometimes it can be a time of fear of suffering and death, in case women begin pregnancy with low or absent stores of iron because of previous pregnancy, poor iron intake, substance abuse; increased fetal demands of iron leads to iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of malnutrition in the world and is the eighth leading cause of death in pregnant women in developing countries leading to the low birth weight, which is in turn an important risk factor for infant mortality. Objectives: To determine the knowledge of antenatal mothers regarding management of anemia during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: Non-experimental descriptive study was conducted to assess the knowledge of antenatal mothers from Yenepoya Medical College Hospital. A sample size consists of 50 antenatal mothers were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. The data was collected by using pretested structured knowledge questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 and the results expressed as proportions. Results: The majority of the antenatal mothers (54%) had satisfactory knowledge, 38% had poor knowledge, and 8% had good knowledge regarding anemia during pregnancy. Conclusion: The overall knowledge in the study population was 29.9%. Hence, the researcher emphasizes the need for more research to improve the knowledge of antenatal mothers on anemia during pregnancy.