Assessment of pregnant women's awareness and practice of antenatal care in Mosul, Iraq.

Abstract

This study evaluated pregnant women's awareness and practice of antenatal care by using a cross-sectional study design. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from pregnant women attending Al-Sukkar Primary Health Centre in Mosul, Iraq over a period of three months from 1 November2024 to 2 February 2025. The results showed that pregnant women had knowledge gaps pertaining to awareness of warning signals during pregnancy. The majority of participants, pregnant women demonstrated a positive attitude. Approximately half of the participants (52.4%) were regular in their visits and 31.8% reported more than five visits. Good knowledge and favourable attitude were significantly higher among employed women with a university education. In contrast, women with secondary education, those in the third trimester and house wives demonstrated, better practices. We conclude that improving and enhancing awareness about the proper utilization of antenatal care practices will be critical to improving maternal health outcomes in Mosul, Iraq.