Anaemia Prevention In Pregnancy Among Antenatal Clinic Attendees In A General Hospital In Lagos

Abstract

Background: Anemia is the world's second leading cause of disability and thus one of the most serious global public health problems. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that an average of 56% of pregnant women in developing countries, are anaemic.
Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of prevention of anaemia in pregnancy amongst pregnant women attending the Antenatal Clinic at Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital.
Methods: The design was cross-sectional descriptive study. Simple random sampling method was used to select two hundred and twenty respondents (220). A pretested, structured, interviewer administered questionnaires were used for data collection.
Results: Majority (95%) of the respondents was aware of anemia in pregnancy but the mean knowledge score was 56.5%. Less than half (46.3%) of the respondents thought that contraceptives could help prevent anemia in pregnancy by reducing closely spaced pregnancies. Only 31.8% were compliant with the use of iron supplements. About one third (33.2%) didn't combine drinking tea with meals while 47.3% of the respondents didn't use iron supplements with milk products.
Conclusion: The study showed that most of the respondents had a moderate level of knowledge, and positive attitude towards contraceptive use but a high proportion were not compliant with the daily use of iron
supplements. It is recommended that health education of women as well as close family members should be reinforced to improve the compliance with supplements.

Key words: Knowledge, attitude, practices, anaemia, pregnancy, antenatal clinic, Lagos, Nigeria.