Effect of application of a Health Belief Model on changing mothers’ beliefs regarding birth spacing in rural areas

Abstract

Objective: A Health Belief Model seems promising as a framework for examining contraceptive behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of application of a Health Belief Model on changing mothers’ beliefs regarding birth spacing in rural areas. Methods: Design: A quasi experimental pre-post-test design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of application of a Health Belief Model on changing mothers’ beliefs regarding birth spacing. Subjects: A simple random sample of 150 postpartum women were selected from the Maternal Child Health centers at El Hmoul and Shobra Blola villages, Menouf at Menoufia Governorate, Egypt. Instruments: (1) A Birth Spacing Interview Questionnaire to assess socio demographic data, reproductive history, knowledge about birth spacing, and mothers’ practices regarding birth spacing; (2) Perceived Benefits Questionnaire to assess a Health Belief Model constructs such as perceived susceptibility, seriousness, benefits, barriers, health motivation and cues to action. Results: It was illustrated that regarding the perception of benefits of using contraception, 94% of the subjects agreed that benefits outweighed side effects and 100% of the subjects agreed that using contraceptive improved maternal health. Regarding the perception of barriers of using contraceptives, 90% of the subjects disagreed that using contraceptive increased their susceptibility to cancer. Conclusions: Application of a Health Belief Model proved to be effective in changing the health beliefs about birth spacing.