Knowledge and Practices Regarding Self-Management of Minor Ailments among Pregnant Mothers

Background:  During pregnancy, mother faces many minor discomforts due to physiological, ana­tomical, psychological, biochemical and immunological adaptations occurs in their body. The wellbeing of pregnant mothers is threatened due to these minor discomforts and lead to un­neces­sary hospitalization. This study was aimed to assess the knowledge and practices regarding self-management of minor discomforts among preg­nant mothers attending to selected Antenatal Clinics (ANC), Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area, Batticaloa.     Subjects and Method: A cross sectional des­crip­tive study was conducted in selected ante­natal clinics among all registered antenatal mot­hers (n=238) attending to these ANCs. A vali­dated and pretested interviewer administered ques­­­­tionnaire was used to collect the data. Know­ledge on self-management of minor dis­orders was dependent variable and independent vari­ables were the sociodemographic status, eco­no­mic status and obstetric details of pregnant mot­hers. Descriptive and inferential statistic was per­form­ed to analyze the relevant data.   Results: Nearly half of the participants (54.6%) were in 20–29 years and 62% of them were primiparous mot­hers. Around 93% of them were experienced nausea and vomiting during their pregnancy and among them all were reported nausea and vomit­ing has been occurred during their 1st trimester. About 75% of them mentioned that home reme­dies are the best way to self-manage the minor dis­­­com­forts. The mean know­ledge score on minor discomforts and self-management was 12.16 (SD= 14.64). Majority of participants (94.1%) scored less than 50%. Knowledge score was sig­ni­fi­cantly associated with participant’s ethnicity, reli­gion, monthly income, educational level and their parity.Conclusion: The prevalence of minor dis­com­forts among pregnant mothers was high and preg­nant mothers have expressed that minor dis­comforts can be managed with home remedies. Further, knowledge level regarding minor dis­com­forts and their self-management was in­ade­quate.Keywords: Antenatal mothers, minor discomforts, knowledge, self-management, Sri LankaCorrespondence: Gnanaselvam Kisokanth. Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Email: [email protected]  Mobile: +94772228330Journal of Maternal and Child Health (2020), 05(03): 303-312https://doi.org/10.26911/thejmch.2020.05.03.09