Knowledge Regarding Pregnancy and Child Care Among Mothers in Possession of Mother and Child Protection Card in a Rural Maternity Hospital in Karnataka

Abstract

Introduction: The mother and child protection card (MCP card) have been developed as a tool to learn, understand, and follow positive practices for achieving good health of pregnant women, young mothers, and children. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess the level of knowledge regarding pregnancy and child health care among mothers in possession of MCP card. Materials and Methods:This was a cross-sectional study done among pregnant and post-natal mothers availing health services in a rural maternity hospital in Karnataka, using a structured interview schedule, capturing socio-demographic details and knowledge regarding pregnancy care, danger signs, infant care, institutional delivery, benefit schemes, and family planning based on information provided by MCP card. Each correct response was awarded a score of one, giving a maximum possible knowledge score of 71. Independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation were used to find association between total knowledge score and different socio-demographic variables. Results:Of the 226 participants, all had MCP card, but only 13.3% mothers had read the MCP card. The overall mean knowledge score of the participants was 19.6 ± 5.5 and median knowledge score was 19.0 (IQR=16, 23). All the women in our study were found to have poor knowledge as none of the subjects had a knowledge score of 35 or above. Higher socio-economic status of the mother was significantly associated with higher mean knowledge score regarding pregnancy and child care (P < 0.0001). The mean knowledge score was higher among women who said that their primary source was village level workers (ASHA/AWW/ ANM), media, and self-reading the MCP card (P < 0.0001), as compared to doctor. Conclusion: This study has shown that in spite of MCP card having being developed as a tool for health education, maternal awareness remains poor among the mothers in possession of an MCP card. There is a need for re-enforcing among village level and primary healthcare workers that the MCP is an excellent resource for transferring knowledge regarding pregnancy and child care to rural mothers.

Keywords

• child health
• mother and child protection card
• pregnancy.