Knowledge on preconception care among pregnant women at a hospital in Liberia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36097/rsan.v1i66.3834Keywords:
Preconception care, Maternal health, Pregnant women, Health knowledge, Antenatal careAbstract
While preconception care is standard practice in high-income countries, it is an unused or even unrecognized service in low-income countries. The purpose of this study is to determine the knowledge of pregnant women about preconception care in a hospital in Liberia. This study used the descriptive and cross-sectional research design. The population of this study included all pregnant women who attended antenatal care at a hospital in Liberia from July 15 to December 15, 2023. The final sample consisted of 190 pregnant women. Data were collected face-to-face using a personal information form and the preconception care improvement scale. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. Results: In this study, most of the pregnant women are single (72.6%), Christian, and rural dwellers. More than half of pregnant women (57.9%) have primary education, and 74.2% of the pregnant women have unplanned pregnancies. This study found that 77.4% of the pregnant women had low knowledge of preconception care, whereas 22.6% had good knowledge of preconception care. It was found that there is a statistically significant difference between marital status, area of residence, level of education, the number of live births, planned or unplanned pregnancies, age range, and level of knowledge on the preconception care improvement scale (p<0.001). The knowledge of preconception care among pregnant women at a hospital in Liberia is low. It is recommended that antenatal care services be added to preconception care of primary and secondary healthcare services as routine care.
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