Knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women towards antenatal care services at Tshino Village, Vhembe district, South Africa

Abstract

Health knowledge is one of the key factors enabling pregnant women to be aware of their rights and health status in order to seek appropriate antenatal health care services. The primary aim of this study was to explore pregnant women`s knowledge and attitudes towards antenatal care services at Tshino village, Vhembe district. A qualitative, exploratory approach was used. Population comprised all pregnant women who were residing at Tshino village and attending antenatal care services. Non-probability, snowball sampling method was used to select ten pregnant women. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Trustworthiness was ensured by considering the criteria of credibility, dependability, applicability and transferability. Data were qualitatively analysed through open coding method. The results revealed that pregnant women had knowledge related to antenatal care services, however, had limited knowledge about the importance of early booking. The pregnant women further displayed positive and negative attitudes towards the antenatal care services. There is need to increase awareness on the importance of early antenatal booking through using the Community Health care Workers on antenatal health care services, and to integrate and implement the Basic Antenatal Care guidelines, Batho Pele principles and Millennium Development Goals when providing antenatal care.

Keywords: Antenatal care services, knowledge, attitude and pregnant women.