A qualitative study of the maternal health information-seeking behaviour of women of reproductive age in Mpwapwa district, Tanzania

Delivery of a post-natal neonatal jaundice education intervention improves knowledge among mothers at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda

BACKGROUND

Neonatal jaundice (NNJ) is a major contributor to childhood morbidity and mortality. As many infants are discharged by 24 hours of age, mothers are key in detecting severe forms of jaundice. Mothers with limited knowledge of NNJ have a hard time identifying these infants who could go on to have the worst outcomes. This study aimed to determine the effect of a jaundice education package delivered to mothers prior to hospital discharge on maternal knowledge after discharge.

METHODS

This was a before and after interventional study involving an education package delivered through a video message and informational voucher. At 10-14 days after discharge, participants were followed up via telephone to assess their post-intervention knowledge. A paired t-test was used to determine the effectiveness of the intervention on knowledge improvement. Linear regression was used to determine predictors of baseline knowledge and of change in knowledge score.

RESULTS

Of the 250 mothers recruited, 188 were fit for analysis. The mean knowledge score was 10.02 before and 14.61 after the intervention, a significant difference (p<0.001). Factors determining higher baseline knowledge included attendance of 4 or more antenatal visits (p < 0.001), having heard about NNJ previously (p < 0.001), having experienced an antepartum illness (p = 0.019) and higher maternal age (p = 0.015). Participants with poor baseline knowledge (β = 7.523) and moderate baseline knowledge (β = 3.114) had much more to gain from the intervention relative to those with high baseline knowledge (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Maternal knowledge of jaundice can be increased using a simple educational intervention, especially in settings where the burden of detection often falls on the mother. Further study is needed to determine the impact of this intervention on care seeking and infant outcomes.

Factors affecting the provision of high-quality postnatal care services in Zanzibar: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the postnatal period is associated with high mortality and accounts for a substantial proportion of maternal deaths. Although postnatal care has been identified as critical in reducing maternal mortality, the quality of care provided is often inadequate. Tanzania and Zanzibar have not made sufficient progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on maternal health, and there is limited knowledge about the utilization and quality of postnatal follow-up. The aim of this study was therefore to explore factors affecting the provision of high-quality postnatal care services in the urban area of Zanzibar.

METHODS

Five focus group discussions were performed in Swahili with 25 healthcare providers from primary healthcare units in urban Zanzibar. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated into English, and analysed using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach.

RESULTS

Factors affecting provision of high-quality postpartum care services could be divided into three generic categories. Difficulty achieving high attendance comprised three subcategories: long waiting times, low awareness among women, and out-of-pocket payment. Lack of basic resources also comprised three subcategories: shortage of healthcare providers, lack of adequate space, and inadequate medical equipment. Insufficient care routines comprised two subcategories: lack of guidelines and deficient chain of information.

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings suggest that the women's perceptions of postnatal care do not align with the intended purpose of routine postnatal care. Instead, the postnatal period primarily leads to visits to health facilities only when urgent care is required, and there is a lack of awareness about the importance of postnatal care. Moreover, limited resources, including equipment, staff, and space, as well as long waiting times, hinder the delivery of high-quality care and contribute to a negative reputation of postnatal care services. To effectively reach all women and improve postnatal care, it is necessary to increase basic resources, modify health education approaches, and enhance the flow of information between different levels of care using context-specific strategies.

Investigating pregnant women’s health information needs during pregnancy on internet platforms

Artificial intelligence gives pregnant women another avenue for receiving healthcare information. With the advancement of information and communication technology, searching online for pregnancy information has become commonplace during COVID-19. This study aimed to explore pregnant women’s information-seeking behavior based on data mining and text analysis in China. Posts on maternal and infant-related websites were collected during 1 June 2020, and 31 January 2021. A total of 5,53,117 valid posts were obtained. Based on the data, we performed correlation analysis, topic analysis, and sentiment analysis. The correlation analysis showed the positive effects of population, population with a college education or above, and GDP on post counts. The topic analysis extracted six, nineteen, eighteen, thirteen, eleven, sixteen, thirteen, sixteen, nineteen, and fourteen topics in different months of pregnancy, reflecting different information needs in various pregnancy periods. The results of sentiment analysis show that a peak of the posts emerged in the second month of pregnancy and the proportion of emotionally positive posts reached its peak in the sixth month of pregnancy. The study provides important insights for understanding pregnant women’s information-seeking behavior.

Factors affecting family planning literacy among women of childbearing age in the rural Lake zone, Tanzania

BACKGROUND

Low uptake of various recommended modern family planning methods is associated with inadequate family planning literacy among potential beneficiaries of the methods. As such, understanding factors affecting family planning literacy is key to addressing this problem. This study, therefore, explored factors affecting family planning literacy among women of childbearing age in the rural Lake Zone of Tanzania.

METHODS

The study utilized an exploratory descriptive qualitative research approach using focus group discussions to collect data. A total of eight focus group discussion sessions were held to solicit information from childbearing age women involved in the study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected from the study participants.

RESULTS

Several factors were found to negatively affect the family planning literacy of women of childbearing age in the communities under review. These factors were low levels of education, religious affiliation, and low family income. Other factors that were also found to negatively affect women's family planning literacy include fertility preference, negative perceptions of family planning, preference of unproven family planning methods, limited access to reliable sources of family planning information, household responsibilities, and poor male partner support on family planning matters.

CONCLUSION

This study has identified a multitude of factors affecting the family planning literacy of women of childbearing age. These factors can limit the women's capacity to make informed decisions on the utilization of modern family planning methods. Thus, addressing these factors is pivotal in increasing the women's overall uptake of various recommended family planning methods and enhancing their reproductive health outcomes.

10,000 steps a day? Activity trackers, health information literacy and the potential role of Information Science & Health Libraries

Acknowledging the new ways in which activity tracking technologies (ATTs) such as Apple Watch, Fitbit and Garmin are changing the ways in which we understand human-information interactions, Aylin Imeri calls for information science and health libraries to extend their health information literacy remit to support ATT user information needs.

Internet use by pregnant women seeking childbirth information

BACKGROUND

During pregnancy period, women's information needs increases. Receiving information during this period affects the birth and postpartum period.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the use of the internet to receiving childbirth information by pregnant women.

METHODS

The study was a descriptive study. Data were collected using an Information Form. The sample consisted of 162 pregnant women.

RESULTS

The 92.4% of women used the internet as a source of information about childbirth. Blogs or web pages were the most frequently used internet sources with 85.8% usage, followed by mobile applications with 75.6%, and social media with 58.1%. Most of the women found the information they received from the internet partially useful and reliable. 24.3% of the women stated that receiving information on internet decreased their fears and 14.8% that it increased their fears.

CONCLUSIONS

Most women used the internet as primary information source. Health professionals should orient people to reliable sources.

Explaining the concept of maternal health information verification and assessment during pregnancy: a qualitative study

Background

Pregnant women use information sources for their own health and health of their children. However, despite the importance of trusting the information sources, pregnant women may not have the ability to verify the maternal health information, which could have negative consequences for their health. The purpose of this study was to explain the concept of maternal health information verification and assessment in pregnant women according to their experiences and perception.

Methods

This is a qualitative study that was conducted in 2017 in Tehran, Iran. The participants in this study consisted of 19 pregnant women who were selected by purposeful sampling. To collect data, semi-structured, in-depth and face to face interviews were conducted with participants and continued until saturation of data. Conventional content analysis method was used to analyze the data and to identify concepts and synthesize them into general classes. MAXQDA software version 10 was used to manage the data.

Results

In the process of data analysis, the concept of verification and assessment of maternal health information in pregnancy was explained in two main categories, including “Validity of information resources” and “Reliance on information resources.” The category of Validity of information resources had two subcategories of valid and invalid sources, and the main category of Reliance on information resources had two subcategories of indicators of assurance, and confusion and trying to obtain assurance.

Conclusion

The results indicated that pregnant women used various sources and indicators, as well as different evaluation methods to obtain information and verify it, especially when they are confused. Thus, health authorities and healthcare professionals should provide appropriate programs to familiarize mothers with credible sources, train pregnant women on standards and practices for judging the accuracy of information, and create a safe margin of information.