Birth preparedness and complication readiness among antenatal care clients in Upper Egypt

To assess knowledge and practice of birth preparedness among antenatal care (ANC) clients attending maternal and child health center in Assiut Governorate in Upper Egypt and to identify factors affecting BP/CR knowledge and practice.

A cross sectional study was conducted in three randomly selected health centers providing ANC services in Assiut city, Upper Egypt. 300 pregnant women in their third trimester were interviewed using an Arabic version of the BP/CR questionnaire. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the predictors of BP/CR knowledge and practice of pregnant women.

Only 26.7% of the study participants were considered "well prepared" for birth and its complications. The most frequently mentioned practice was the preparation of essential items for delivery and newborn care (40%) followed by saving money (34.7%). Identifying a skilled provider for delivery, a blood donor and a transport method was practiced only by 7.3%, 2.3% and 1% of the participants respectively. Women who lived in rural regions were 1.9 times likely to be well prepared for childbirth than those who lived in urban regions and women who attended ≥4 ANC visits were 3.2 times more likely to be well prepared as compared to those who attended less than four visits.

Efforts should focus not only on frequency but also on the contents of health education given during ANC follow ups with giving special emphasis to knowledge of key danger signs and BP/ CR.