Knowledge, practice of and factors influencing birth preparedness and complication readiness among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in a tertiary institution in South-Western Nigeria

Pregnancy and child birth are normal physiological processes expected to be uneventful with a fruitful outcome of a healthy mother and baby(ies). However, every pregnant woman faces the risk of sudden unpredictable complications that could lead to injury to herself, her infant or even death. Furthermore, no one can reliably predict pregnancy related complications and its outcome, hence the need to be birth prepared and complication ready. Therefore, this study assessed the knowledge, practice of and factors influencing birth preparedness and complication readiness among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in a tertiary in a South-Western, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive research design utilizing quantitative approach. One hundred and forty-six (146) consenting pregnant women participated in this study. Data were manually collected and analyzed electronically with the use of SPSS computer software version 23. The results showed that more than half of the respondents 74 (50.7%) had overall poor knowledge of BPCR while majority of the respondents 88 (60.3%) had good overall practice of BPCR. The findings revealed that factors influencing practice of BPCR were inadequate prenatal education (82.2%), knowledge of key danger signs (80.8%), poverty and place of residents (80.1%), educational level (70.5%) and family size (60.3%). There was a significant relationship between the knowledge and practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness, with a p-value <0.05.  Base on the results we conclude that although the overall practice of BPCR is good while the overall knowledge is poor. There is a need to create an awareness and give adequate education on knowledge and practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness among pregnant women.