National Journal of Community Medicine (Dec 2015)
Awareness And Knowledge of Mother-To- Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS Among Pregnant Women of Rural Tertiary Care Hospital
Abstract
Introduction: Infected mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS, in absence of any intervention vary from 20-25%. Awareness of the var- ious aspects of this disease deserves the ultimate importance in pre- venting mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. So the study was planned to evaluate awareness and knowledge of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS and its prevention among pregnant women. Methods – Present hospital based study carried out at the ANC clinic of rural tertiary hospital. Pretested and predesigned questionnaire was used. Results - All pregnant women were aware of HIV/AIDS. Among the total respondents 63.13% were aware that HIV/AIDS can co-exist with pregnancy but only 60.5% were aware of mother- to –child transmission. Antiretroviral drugs in pregnancy and avoidance of breastfeeding were identified as methods of preventing mother-to- child transmission of HIV/AIDS by only 46.85% and 15% of the res- pondents respectively, out of which 53.15% respondents don’t know any methods of preventing mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Conclusion – Health education should be more specifically focused on mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS and its methods of prevention among the pregnant women as the knowledge is superficial.
