Knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women towards antenatal care givers in Mbombela Municipality of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Abstract

Antenatal care is the health care that women receive during pregnancy before the delivery of a baby; it aims to detect and treat existing health problems and to screen for complications that may develop in pregnancy. The aim of the study was to explore and describe knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women towards antenatal care services in Mbombela Municipality, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach was used. The sample selected for the study from the population of pregnant women consisted of 18 pregnant women who attended ANC at six PHC facilities in Mbombela Municipality. Non-probability, purposive sampling was used to select the PHC facilities and the participants. Data was collected through in-depth individual interviews. The open coding method was used to analyse the data. To ensure that ethical considerations were taken into consideration, permission to conduct the study was obtained from the University of Venda Ethics Committee and the Mpumalanga Department of Health. Participation in the study was voluntary and the ethically approved protocol of informed consent, anonymity and confidentiality were adhered to. Trustworthiness was ensured by considering the criteria of transferability, credibility, dependability and applicability. The results from the study indicated that pregnant women knew about ANC services, but their knowledge of the best time to initiate ANC, as well as the procedures and importance of ANC was poor. The study found that the participants had favourable and unfavourable attitudes to ANC services. This indicates that there is a need for intensive health education regarding ANC services in the area. Findings from the study led to recommendations that there is a need to review ANC programmes to improve the knowledge of pregnant women and communities and also to address the challenges faced by women when accessing ANC services.