Knowledge of Risk Factors and Preventive Measures for Anaemia in Pregnancy Among Childbearing Mothers in Imo East Senatorial District, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Anaemia in pregnancy is one of the world’s leading causes of death and disability among women of reproductive age. This study investigated knowledge of risk factors and preventive measures for anaemia in pregnancy among childbearing mothers in Imo East Senatorial District, Imo State. Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of 742,576 childbearing mothers. A sample size of 432 childbearing mothers was drawn from the entire population using a two-stage sampling procedure. Researchers’ designed ―Knowledge of Risk Factors and Preventive Measures of Anaemia in Pregnancy Questionnaire (KRFPMAPQ) was used for data collection. Kuder- Richardson statistics was used to determine the internal consistency of KRFPMAPQ and a reliability index of .83 was obtained. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages as well as Pearson Chi-square were used to analyse and answer the research questions and test the hypotheses respectively. Findings revealed that childbearing mothers in Imo East Senatorial District, Imo State possessed high knowledge (68.9%) of risk factors and preventive measures (79.2%) of anaemia in pregnancy respectively. There were significant differences in the knowledge of risk factors and preventive measures for anaemia in pregnancy among CBMs in Imo State senatorial District, Imo State based on level of education. Findings suggest that government through the partnership of non-governmental organizations should make good antenatal care accessible and affordable to all pregnant women.