Knowledge and Practice of Active Management of Third Stage of Labour (AMTSL) among Nursing Students in Selected Hospitals, Gangtok, Sikkim

Introduction: Active Management of Third Stage of Labour (AMTSL) as a prophylactic intervention is composed of a package of three components. WHO recommendations have supported active management of the third stage of labour (AMTSL) as a critical intervention for PPH prevention. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of AMTSL among nursing students in selected hospitals, Gangtok, Sikkim. Materials and Methods: Investigators adopted quantitative approach with descriptive co-relational research design where 40 students were selected by convenient sampling technique. Validated structured knowledge questionnaire and observational checklist were used to collect the data. Pretesting and reliability of the tool was done which was found to be reliable. Results: The findings revealed that majority of the students i.e. out of 40 students, 33 (82.5%) had average knowledge, 5 (15%) students had poor knowledge and 1 (2.5%) had good knowledge. Majority 21 (52.5%) had poor practice and 19 (47.5%) had good practice on AMTSL. There was a positive correlation between knowledge and practice of AMTSL among nursing students which means with the increase of knowledge, the practice of AMTSL improves. Also, there was an association of practice with the number of return demonstration shown to the supervisor. Conclusion: Knowledge of Active Management of Third Stage of labor is a vital possession for the nurses and birth attendants to be skillful in the practice of AMTSL to prevent post-partum hemorrhage and other obstetric complication, which may risk the life of the women. Knowledge based skill is optimal solution for reducing the maternal mortality rate.