Efficacy of structured teaching programme on home care management of pregnancy induced hypertension in primigravida mothers: a tertiary hospital study

Abstract

Background: Hypertensive disease of pregnancy is one of the major causes of maternal mortality in India. 7.1% of maternal deaths are attributed to hypertension disorder of pregnancy. Early identification of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is essential for effective management of hypertensive disease of pregnancy. The study assesses the knowledge of primigravida women regarding home care management of pregnancy induced hypertension before and after administering structured teaching programme.Methods: It is a pilot study with pre-experimental study design. 30 study participants were recruited with non-probability purposive sampling of primigravida women attending antenatal clinic of maternity hospital of Petlaburj, Hyderabad. A pretested and standardized survey instrument was used for collecting socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitude and practices regarding home care management of pregnancy after obtaining informed consent before and after structured teaching intervention programme with audio-visual aids for home management of pregnancy induced hypertension.Results: 43.3% of primigravida women were 21-24 years old and 43.3% of primigravida women were 20-24 years of gestation. Mean pre-test and post-test knowledge assessment score increased by 155.2% from 13.4 to 34.2 after administration of structured teaching programme and paired-t test was carried out to test difference of means. The test reports t-test statistic of -20.7 with p-value of <0.001 is highly significant.Conclusions: Evidence based guidelines adopted by Government of India should be implemented by health facilities by upgrading infrastructure, capacity building and community engagement for early identification of complications of pregnancy to seek health care services.