Knowledge of obstetric danger signs among Saudi Arabian women

Abstract

Background: In the Middle East, tremendous efforts have been made to promote both maternal and child health. However, there is little information in the literature about maternal knowledge of obstetric danger signs. Thus, this study aims to investigate Saudi Arabian women's knowledge of obstetric danger signs and their determinant factors. Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted in primary health care centers (PHCCs) in Riyadh City. A proportionate random sample of women who have delivered during the past 2 years was selected from the PHCCs. Data were then collected through structured interviews; the questionnaire was developed based on the literature review. Results: A random sample of 1397 women were included in the final analysis of this study. During pregnancy, 21.1% of the participants reported that they knew about swollen hands or faces. During labor, 23.1% of the participants reported that they knew about prolonged labor (> 12 h). At postpartum, 26.3% of the participants reported that they knew about foul-smelling vaginal discharge. In this study, women in the northern region of Riyadh who visited government hospitals had significantly higher odds of knowing at least one obstetric danger sign. A statistically significant difference was found between the participants' knowledge of at least one obstetric danger sign and her 11-15 times of antenatal care visit. Conclusions: A dedicated health education guide, and a kingdom-wide maternal and child health preventive care promotion program could improve the health and wellbeing of expectant mothers. In these programs, it is essential to focus on birth preparedness, with danger signs recognition, and the integrate health-related data for the whole kingdom.

Knowledge regarding obstetric danger signs among pregnant women

“…Many other study findings showed a higher proportion of respondents who could mention severe vaginal bleeding as the danger sign in the intra-natal period. 16,32,34,36 However, a study conducted in Saudi Arabia, 25 Tanzania 27 and Uganda 37 showed the respondent's knowledge to be lesser than our study findings. The reason could be the perception of women that some amount of bleeding is normal during delivery.…”

“…Similar findings were observed in the study of Uganda, 36 South West Ethiopia 22 and Nigeria 13 Contrast findings were observed in many other studies conducted. 25,32,34 The low level of knowledge found in our study might reflect the health worker's behaviour that they do not focus it as a danger sign during ANC visit.…”

“…Contrast findings were observed in various other studies ranging from as low as 0.7% to as high as 70%. 22,25,29,34,36,37 The reason behind very low knowledge of respondents on the retained placenta in our study might be due to the increased access to hospital delivery where active management of the third stage of labour reduces this complication so women might have neither experienced nor heard about this complication.…”

“…This finding is in line with the study conducted in different region of Ethiopia 27,[21][22][23] and India. 15 However contrast findings were observed in the study of Madagascar (26.9%), 24 Saudi Arabia (15.3%), 25 Eastern Ethiopia (23.5%) 26 and Tanzania (25.5%). 27 There is a higher level of knowledge on vaginal bleeding in the current study as obstetric haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death in Nepal.…”

“…Contrast findings were seen in various other studies conducted. [21][22][23]25,37 These differences in the knowledge level could probably be related to the cultural, methodological, socio-demographic and health intervention differences.…”