Date of Award

11-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Health Policy and Management

First Advisor

Dr Narjis Rizvi

Second Advisor

Dr.Sana Sheikh

Third Advisor

Dr Haleema Yasmeen

Department

Community Health Sciences

Abstract

Background: Maternal nutrition is one of the most important aspects for both maternal and child health. Significant number of pregnant women in Pakistan are suffering from micronutrient deficiencies like of folic acid and vitamin A which are very important for fetal development and maternal health. Poor nutritional practices of mother are influenced by socioeconomic constraints, cultural beliefs and limited access to healthcare. Improving the maternal and child health conditions are of essential importance especially in urban settings of high population like Karachi
Objective: The study aimed to assess the knowledge, Attitude and practice regarding nutrition of pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics at Jinnah Post Medical College in Karachi. In addition, this study has identified the factors associated with knowledge, attitude and practice, as well as has also explored the perspectives of healthcare providers on the nutritional content and delivery mechanism of nutritional knowledge.
Method: A sequential mixed method study was employed in collecting both Quantitative data and Qualitative data. Semi structured interviews were conducted with healthcare providers and in-depth interviews with pregnant women. The structured questionnaires were administered to 430 pregnant women that has allowed for numerical evaluation of KAP scores. Qualitative data provide insight into the factors influencing nutritional practices, including all the barriers women faces in adopting healthier nutritional practices and acquiring nutritional knowledge.
Result: The result revealed that 84.8% participants had poor nutritional knowledge. However, a t the same time, 77.4% of the participants had good and excellent attitudes towards healthy eating behaviors. Nevertheless, only 21.4% of participants exhibited good dietary practices in terms of having a high consumption of fried foods and low consumption of folic and calcium supplements. Pregnant women's autonomy to make dietary choices, economical constraints, the preference of family, health service were some of the factors which were observed to have a high influence on nutritional choices of pregnant women. According to the health providers, time constraints and the lack of an individualized tool prevented them from efficiently providing nutritional counseling for pregnant women
Conclusion: This study highlights significant nutritional knowledge and practice gaps of pregnant women. Even with a positive attitude to better nutrition, systemic barriers in addition to cultural norms and healthcare limitations are the underlying reasons for the pregnant women to not follow healthy nutritional practices. This study emphasizes the need for a culturally adapted holistic nutrition education program as part of the antenatal care so that KAP gaps found among pregnant women can be addressed

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1

Last Page

119

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