PRIMIGRAVIDA MOTHERS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS VAGINAL DELIVERY AND CAESAREAN SECTION

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Background: Pregnancy is a normal physiological phenomenon and normal vaginal delivery is defined as the natural and spontaneous method of labour and delivery. However, as first time mother, primigravida mothers might have concern towards mode of delivery. This study aims to assess the primigravida mothers’ knowledge and attitude towards vaginal delivery (VD) and caesarean section (CS).

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used in this study. One hundred and five primigravida mothers were recruited using non-probability, purposive sampling between January and February 2016. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaires adopted with permission from Nisar et al. (2009) on knowledge and attitude towards VD and CS. Data was analyzed using the SSPS version 22 for descriptive and inferential analysis.

Results: Most of the participants knows that CS is mandatory for breech presentations (75.2%, n=79). In addition, more than half of the participants (53.3%, n=56) participants were aware that infections are more frequent after CS. The majority of the participants in this study have good knowledge (51.4%, n=54) and positive attitude towards both VD (50.5%, n=53) and CS (52.4%, n=55). A significant association was found between knowledge and attitude towards VD among primigravida mothers (p=0.025).

Conclusion: The study revealed that although more than half of primigravida mothers have good knowledge and positive attitude towards both VD and CS, health education to empower primigravida mothers to understand the risks and benefits of different modes of delivery is needed.

Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, primigravida mothers, vaginal delivery, caesarean section