232934 Knowledge of Danger Signs during Pregnancy: Recognition and responses to danger signs among women in rural Ghana

Monday, November 8, 2010

Silpa Thaivalappil, BS International Health, MPH Candidate , Department of International Health/School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, DC
Catherine Burke, BS International Health , Department of International Health/School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., DC
Elizabeth Rafferty, BS International Health, MD Candidate , Department of International Health/School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., DC
Christina Sperle, BS International Health , Department of International Health/School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, DC
Obstetric complications that occur during pregnancy greatly add to maternal mortality worldwide, yet many of these complications can be easily prevented with proper antenatal education. This study was conducted in the Kassena-Nankana (KND) and Kassena-Nankana West (KNWD) districts of the Upper East region of Ghana to assess the ability of pregnant women to recognize, understand, and act upon six severe danger signs (abdominal pains, anemia, headache, swelling, vaginal bleeding, and vomiting) indicative of a complication during pregnancy. 369 women were surveyed at six antenatal clinics within the two districts over a three-week period in November 2009. Based on survey responses, the majority of women attending antenatal clinics (ANC) in the KND and KNWD appeared to recognize and understand danger signs and the need to seek professional health care for these symptoms. Results indicate that a woman's likelihood of seeking care for a pregnancy complication may be dependent upon her knowledge of danger signs during pregnancy, the perceived severity of her complication, and her experiences from previous pregnancies. Antenatal clinics within the two districts varied in what maternal health topics, and even what danger signs, they covered. Such differences in content and quality of antenatal education appear to be another significant factor in how women understand and seek care for danger signs. In order to decrease maternal mortality in the Kassena-Nankana districts, district health officials should ensure that antenatal clinic education is standardized so that all women receive the same information on danger signs during pregnancy.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
To further explore antenatal education and maternal health in a rural low-resource setting, investigators undertook a study to: (i) assess the recognition and understanding of danger signs among women attending antenatal clinics (ANC) in the Kassena-Nankana (KND) and Kassena-Nankana West (KNWD) districts of the Upper East region of Ghana; (ii) assess the extent to which these pregnant women act upon identified danger signs given the severity of their symptoms; and (iii) identify the sources of knowledge associated with pregnancy-related danger signs among those pregnant women attending ANC in KND and KNWD.

Keywords: Maternal Health, Prenatal Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: This study was a senior research project that I, along with my colleagues, proposed, formulated, and implemented with the approval of the Navrongo Health Research Center, in Navrongo, Ghana and the Department of International Health at Georgetown University. We have already presented this material to both parties, and at the annual Undergraduate Research Conference at Georgetown University.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.