Infection Control Knowledge and Practices of Obstetricians during Normal Labor in Maternity Hospitals in Alexandria: An Intervention Study

Background: Infections during labor and the puerperium are among the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide, accounting for about one tenth of the global burden of maternal deaths. The infection risk associated with care in labor rooms is probably quite high. Objective(s): The study was conducted to assess infection control (IC) knowledge and practices of obstetricians in maternity hospitals in Alexandria during normal labor and to design, implement and evaluate the effect of an intervention program on IC practices of obstetricians. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among 135 obstetricians followed by an intervention study (one group pretest-posttest design). All obstetricians were asked to fill a questionnaire for assessment of knowledge and were observed three times using a checklist for assessment of practice. A health education program was designed and implemented among obstetricians then practices of obstetricians were reassessed using the same checklist. Results: Nearly 90% of obstetricians in this study had a good level of knowledge regarding standard IC precautions.  Nearly two thirds of obstetricians (65.9%) had poor level of practice while 34.1% had fair level of practice pre-intervention. Post-intervention, 46.7% of obstetricians had fair level of practice. Areas of poor practice were hand hygiene and use of PPE. The best area of improvement in post-intervention was hand hygiene while use of PPE did not improve much. Conclusion: There is a gap between knowledge of obstetricians regarding IC and their practices.