Women's Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior about Maternal Risk Factors in Pregnancy

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 12; p. e0145873
• Main Authors: Esposito, Giuseppe, Ambrosio, Rossella, Napolitano, Francesco, Di Giuseppe, Gabriella
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 29.12.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Alcohol use; Alcoholic beverages; Ambulatory care facilities; Attitudes; Behavior; Child behavior; Child health; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drinking behavior; Female; Fetuses; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health risk assessment; Humans; Maternal behavior; Medical personnel; Medical research; Middle Aged; Mothers - psychology; Motivation; Obesity; Passive smoking; Physicians; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Risk taking; Smoke; Smoking; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Womens health; Young Adult; Italy
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145873

The aims of this study were to assess the levels of knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of women about the main maternal risk factors in pregnancy and to identify the factors linked to the main outcomes of interest. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 513 pregnant women randomly selected from the gynecological ambulatory services of five hospitals located in Naples, Italy. Only 42% of women correctly knew all the main maternal risk factors in pregnancy (alcohol, smoking, passive smoking and obesity). Only 21.7% of women were very worried about causing harm to the fetus or child with their risk behaviors, and 22.3% of women reported smoking during pregnancy. Approximately one-third of women (28.9%) reported regularly drinking alcohol before pregnancy and 74.8% of these women reported stopping drinking alcohol during pregnancy. However, only 27.3% of women who were drinking alcohol during pregnancy had the intention of stopping. Only 43.7% of women indicated that during ambulatory gynecological examinations they received information from physicians about the possible damage resulting from all the main risk factors in pregnancy (alcohol, smoking, passive smoking and obesity). The results indicate that pregnant women lack knowledge regarding the main maternal risk factors. Pregnant women claim to receive little information during gynecological examinations and, therefore, some continue to smoke and drink alcohol during pregnancy. Our results suggest an urgent need for the design of interventions to improve women's levels of knowledge and to promote appropriate behavior in relation to the major risk factors in pregnancy.