Awareness of Danger Signs & Symptoms of Pregnancy Complication Among Women in Jordan

Last month, the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics published a paper, Awareness of danger signs and symptoms of pregnancy complication among women in Jordan, that explores the levels and determinants of awareness of danger signs of pregnancy complications among pregnant women in Jordan. The researchers found that awareness of danger signs was low and that a number of sociodemographic factors were associated with awareness–such as duration of education, current employment, husband’s duration of education, and others.

Take a look at the abstract:

Objective
To assess the level and determinants of awareness of the danger signs and symptoms of pregnancy complication among pregnant Jordanian women aged 15 years and older.

 

Methods
A descriptive cross-sectional study of 350 women attending prenatal care services was performed. Interviews were conducted at 4 public-health centers in Zarqa, Jordan, using a structured questionnaire. Awareness was defined as “knowing at least 4 danger signs and symptoms”.

 

Results
Overall, 84.8% of the women interviewed were not aware of danger signs and symptoms of pregnancy complication. Sociodemographic factors—including duration of education and current employment; husband’s duration of education; family size; and whether women were given information about danger signs and symptoms—were associated with awareness in a binary analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that education level of study participants, their husbands’ education level, and receiving information about danger signs and symptoms were all associated with awareness (P = 0.02 for all associations).

 

Conclusion
Awareness of danger signs and symptoms of pregnancy complication among women in Jordan is low. A need exists to provide prenatal care that includes sufficient information about pregnancy-related danger signs and symptoms to meet the need for safe motherhood, as pointed out by the Millennium Development Goals.

Access the article here.