Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcomes: Does any Association Exist?

Ghotbizadeh, Fahimeh; Panahi, Zahra; Tarafdari Manshadi, Azam; Soltani, Saeed; Akbari, Razieh; Parsapur, Mahdieh

doi:10.30699/jogcr.8.1.68

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

² Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30699/jogcr.8.1.68

Abstract

Background & Objective: Social factors which are integrated with health status are considered crucial in pregnancy morbidity. Mothers with a developed level of health literacy (HL) experience a lower risk of preterm delivery. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between maternal HL and prenatal care and pregnancy outcome.
Materials & Methods: The research was a cohort study. A total of 323 participants were selected from prenatal clinics. The women were followed until delivery. Women who had gestational diabetes or preeclampsia or gestational hypertension during pregnancy were omitted. Data were collected with a survey.
Results: The result found 34.1%, 33.1%, 23.8%, and 9% were categorized as having inadequate, problematic, sufficient, and excellent maternal HL. Women with sufficient and excellent literacy were meaningfully better in having earlier and more frequent antenatal care, earlier folic acid consumption, and exercise before and during pregnancy, pregnancy alarm sign awareness, neonatal birth weight, and breastfeeding.
Conclusion: The results proposed that sufficient and excellent HL among women is related to good pregnancy outcomes and poor HL causes a poor chance to gain a positive pregnancy outcome. A cooperative work to grow maternal HL by considering HL levels, revision of educational materials into plain language, and provision of pregnant women with verbal and video instruction in addition to written materials are highly recommended.

Highlights

✅ The results proposed that sufficient and excellent HL among women is related to good pregnancy outcomes and poor HL causes a poor chance to gain a positive pregnancy outcome. A cooperative work to grow maternal HL by considering HL levels, revision of educational materials into plain language, and provision of pregnant women with verbal and video instruction in addition to written materials are highly recommended.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Obstetrics and Gynecology

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Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Cancer Research

Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcomes: Does any Association Exist?

References

References

Volume 8, Issue 1 - Serial Number 30
November and December 2022
Pages 68-75

Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcomes: Does any Association Exist?

References

References

Volume 8, Issue 1 - Serial Number 30November and December 2022Pages 68-75

Volume 8, Issue 1 - Serial Number 30
November and December 2022
Pages 68-75