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BIRTH PREPAREDNESS AND COMPLICATION READINESS: A CROSS SECTIONAL SURVEY FROM EXPECTANT MOTHERS VISITING A RURAL HEALTH CENTER

Objective: To assess level of awareness of expectant mothers about their birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPACR).Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: It was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted at a Rural Health Center, Mandra over period of six months, from Sep 2016 to Feb 2017.Material and Methods: Three hundred and twenty pregnant women of rural area of residence in their third trimester (29-40 wks) were approached using non probability convenient sampling. They were interviewed by using a structured questionnaire after taking informed consent. SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The mean age of the participants was 29.02 ± 6.403 years. All the 320 participants were from rural area of residence. The knowledge of elements of BPACR was highest (7 out of 8) in only 26 (8.1%) women followed by 6 elements in 47 (14.7%), 5 elements in 78 (24.4%), 4 elements in 83 (25.9%). There was significant number offemales who had poor knowledge of only 3 elements 69 (21.6%). Overall 45% of pregnant women knew 5 or more elements were well prepared while 55% were less prepared regarding birth and related complications. Participants’ education and husbands’ monthly income was found to be significantly associated with birth preparedness and complication readiness knowledge (p-value<0.05).Conclusion: The majority of expectant mothers were well prepared for the birth and were also aware of the danger signs of pregnancy. Antenatal visits were taken by majority of the participants. However arrangements for transportation, financial support and blood donor identification were not satisfactory.