Association between maternal health literacy level with pregnancy care and its outcomes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.Sc. student in Health Education and Promotion, Student Research Committee, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

2 Associate professor, Department of health Education and Promotion, Health Sciences Research Center, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Health Sciences Research Center, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Maternal health literacy during pregnancy represents the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of women to gain and apply the useful knowledge. This study was performed with aim to investigate the association between maternal health literacy level with pregnancy care and its outcomes.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was performed in 2015 on 120 pregnant women referred to health centers of Mashhad to perform prenatal care. The subjects were selected by multistage randomized cluster sampling method. Data was collected by using Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcome Questionnaire (MHLAPQ). Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 15) and descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Tukey and Pearson correlation. PResults: The mean score of maternal health literacy was 42.47±7.54, so that the least score was 21 and the most 56. There was significant relationship between maternal health literacy and educational level, incomes, living place, number of pregnancy, time of starting care and the number of care taken during pregnancy, birth weight, supplements consumption and anemia (P<0.05). Pearson correlation coefficient showed significantly positive relation between health literacy and pregnancy outcomes (P<0.001). But there were no significant relation between maternal age with pregnancy outcomes and health literacy.
Conclusion: There is significant relationship between maternal health literacy with prenatal care, pregnancy outcomes and birth weight that shows the necessity of more attention to maternal health literacy in health promotion programs.

Keywords

References

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The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility
Volume 19, Issue 37
December 2017
Pages 40-50

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