Knowledge and understanding of obstetric danger signs among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at the National Referral Hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan: a cross-sectional study

Pregnant woman awareness of obstetric danger signs in developing country: systematic review

BACKGROUND

Mother's awareness of obstetric danger signs is the degree of a pregnant woman to fully utilize her knowledge of the signs and symptoms of complications of pregnancy, which helps the mother and family to seek medical help immediately. High maternal and infant mortality rates in developing countries are due to a combination of a lack of quality, resources and access to health services coupled with mother's lack of awareness. The purpose of this study was to collect current empirical studies to describe the pregnant women awareness about the obstetric danger sign in developing country.

METHOD

This review employed the Prisma-ScR checklist. The articles searched in four electronic databases (Scopus, CINAHL, Science Direct, Google Scholar). Variables that used to search the articles (pregnant woman, knowledge, awareness, danger signs pregnancy). The Framework used to review is PICOS.

RESULT

The results of the article found 20 studies which met inclusion criteria. The determinants were high educational status, more pregnancy experience, more ANC visit, and labour in the health facility.

CONCLUSION

The level of awareness is low to medium, only some have fair awareness, in which related to determinant. The recommended effective strategy is to improve the ANC program by assess the risk of obstetric danger sign promptly, assess the barrier of health seeking related to the family support, i.e. the husband and the elderly. Additionally, use MCH handbook or mobile application to record the ANC visit and communicate with the family.

Knowledge of danger signs in pregnancy and their associated factors among pregnant women in Hosanna Town, Hadiya Zone, southern Ethiopia

Background

Danger signs in pregnancy can warn of maternal health problems. In developing African countries, including Ethiopia, the rate of maternal mortality is high. There is little knowledge of danger signs during pregnancy and their associated factors at the community level in the study area.

Methods

A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted to assess knowledge about danger signs among pregnant women in Hosanna Zuria Kebeles between 30 June and 30 July 2021. A simple random sampling method was used to select eligible pregnant women. The sample size was proportionally allocated based on the number of pregnant women in each kebele. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews using a pretested questionnaire. The descriptive results were presented as proportions, whereas the analytic results were presented as adjusted odds ratios (AOR).

Results

The prevalence of good knowledge of danger signs in pregnancy was 259/410 (63.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 58.3–67.8). The most common known danger signs during pregnancy were severe vaginal bleeding (n = 227, 55.4%), followed by blurred vision (n = 224, 54.6%). In the multivariable analysis, the age of the respondent (AOR = 3.29, 95% CI 1.15–9.38), the tertiary education of the mother (AOR = 5.40, 95% CI 2.56–11.34), and the number of live births (AOR = 3.95, 95% CI 2.08–7.48) were statistically significant factors.

Conclusion

There was an adequate prevalence of knowledge of danger signs in pregnancy among pregnant mothers compared with different studies in Ethiopia and different countries. Advanced maternal age, the respondent's level of education, and the number of live births were found to be independent determining factors for the level of knowledge on danger signs in pregnancy among pregnant mothers. Health facilities and healthcare providers should focus on antenatal care and the age and parity of the mother when giving information about danger signs in pregnancy. The Ministry of Health should provide reproductive health services in rural areas and encourage education for women. Further studies need to be conducted and include danger signs in the three trimesters using a qualitative study design.

Nanotechnologies in Obstetrics and Cancer during Pregnancy: A Narrative Review

Nanotechnology, the art of engineering structures on a molecular level, offers the opportunity to implement new strategies for the diagnosis and management of pregnancy-related disorders. This review aims to summarize the current state of nanotechnology in obstetrics and cancer in pregnancy, focusing on existing and potential applications, and provides insights on safety and future directions. A systematic and comprehensive literature assessment was performed, querying the following databases: PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Endbase. The databases were searched from their inception to 22 March 2022. Five independent reviewers screened the items and extracted those which were more pertinent within the scope of this review. Although nanotechnology has been on the bench for many years, most of the studies in obstetrics are preclinical. Ongoing research spans from the development of diagnostic tools, including optimized strategies to selectively confine contrast agents in the maternal bloodstream and approaches to improve diagnostics tests to be used in obstetrics, to the synthesis of innovative delivery nanosystems for therapeutic interventions. Using nanotechnology to achieve spatial and temporal control over the delivery of therapeutic agents (e.g., commonly used drugs, more recently defined formulations, or gene therapy-based approaches) offers significant advantages, including the possibility to target specific cells/tissues of interest (e.g., the maternal bloodstream, uterus wall, or fetal compartment). This characteristic of nanotechnology-driven therapy reduces side effects and the amount of therapeutic agent used. However, nanotoxicology appears to be a significant obstacle to adopting these technologies in clinical therapeutic praxis. Further research is needed in order to improve these techniques, as they have tremendous potential to improve the accuracy of the tests applied in clinical praxis. This review showed the increasing interest in nanotechnology applications in obstetrics disorders and pregnancy-related pathologies to improve the diagnostic algorithms, monitor pregnancy-related diseases, and implement new treatment strategies.