ASSESSMENT OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF POSTNATAL AND ANTENATAL WOMEN

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:The knowledge and attitudes of Nigerian women regarding immunization are substantial obstacles to reaching the best vaccination rates and public health results. Research show that mothers who lack knowledge about immunization and its schedules are more likely to have children who are not vaccinated or only partially vaccinated. METHODS: A cross sectional survey of non randomized sample of 200 postnatal and antenatal women were interviewed at a St. Philomena hospital which is a secondary health center located at Benin city. A well structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about women's socio-demographic characteristics, mothers’ knowledge and attitude towards immunization. This was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences(SPSS) Software version 27.0 RESULTS:Out of the 200 participants 118 (59.0%) were aged 26-35 years, 115 (57.5%) had tertiary education, and 81.5% reported prior pregnancy and most were Christian. 66% of our study participants exhibited good knowledge of vaccinations. 79.5% of study respondents showed good attitude to vaccination. This was observed to be higher for participants with tertiary education, and those with 3-5 children previous pregnancy and Christians. CONCLUSION:The findings of this study shows overall satisfactory maternal knowledge and positive attitudes towards immunization. Older age, presence of previous birth and higher level education were positively associated with having good knowledge and positive attitude towards immunization programs.