Investigating Women's Pregnancy Care Behaviors Based on the Health Belief Model and Social Support Patterns in Pregnant Women Referring to Health Centers Covered affiliated by Iranshahr-Iran faculty of medical science

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women need information, skills and social support for the effectiveness of pregnancy care. Health education patterns play a major role in educational needs assessment in designing and implementing educational interventions. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the pregnancy care behaviors, based on the health belief and social support model among pregnant women. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 with the participation of 215 pregnant women under the control of faculty of Iranshahr Medical Sciences who were selected by multi-stage sampling method. The data were collected through a questionnaire based on the structures of the health belief and social support model, knowledge, behavior and demographic information. Data were analyzed by descriptive, Pearson correlation and multivariate regression tests in SPSS ver19 software. Results: The highest rate of education among pregnant women (35.8%) was high school. The mean score of mothers' performance was 12.31 out of 22, and among the structures the perceived sensitivity score was the strongest, and the social support score was the weakest. Based on regression analysis, self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and social support were predictive behaviors which generally predict 27.5% of behavioral changes. Conclusion: Based on the results, the structures of self-efficacy, perceived benefits and social support should be considered as the most important predictor of pregnancy care behaviors in designing educational interventions.

Keywords

• pregnancy care
• pregnancy
• health education
• Iranshahr
• Iran