| Popis: |
Objective To assess the perception, knowledge, and practices regarding maternal perception of fetal movements (FMs) among women and their healthcare providers in a low-resource setting. Design Qualitative study. Setting The maternity unit of Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Population Pregnant and postpartum women, and health providers. Methods Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions were conducted with 45 Zanzibar women (18 antenatal, 28 postpartum) and 28 health providers. Main outcome measures Descriptive and thematic analyses were conducted to systematically extract subthemes within four main themes 1) knowledge/awareness, 2) behavior/practice, 3) barriers, and 4) improvements. Results Within the main themes it was found that 1) Women were instinctively aware of (ab)normal FM-patterns and healthcare providers had adequate knowledge about FMs. 2) Women often did not know how to monitor FMs or when to report concerns. There was inadequate assessment and management of (ab)normal FMs. 3) Women did not feel free to express concerns. Healthcare providers considered FM-awareness among women as low and unreliable; lack of staff, time and space for FM-education, and no protocol for FM-management. 4) Women and health providers recognized the need for education on assessment and management of (ab)normal FMs. Conclusion Women expressed FMs in an adequate way and perceived abnormalities of these movements better than assumed by health providers. There is a need for more evidence on the effect of improving knowledge and awareness of FMs in order to construct evidence-based guidelines for low resource settings. |
