A Study to Assess the Knowledge and Practices Regarding Prevention of Anaemia among Antenatal Women Attending a Tertiary Level Hospital in Pune

Background Anaemia is one of the potentially lethal complications of pregnancy leading to large number of maternal and foetal loses but it is preventable and curable disease. Antenatal women should equip themselves with adequate knowledge about the prevention of anaemia and routine beneficial diet, hygiene and treatment practices to prevent the consequence of anaemia in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to find out the level of knowledge and practices regarding prevention of anaemia antenatal women and the correlation of knowledge and practice level with selected variables such as age, educational qualification, occupation, obstetrical score, no of antenatal visits and haemoglobin at first visit. Method Descriptive study was conducted on randomly selected 200 antenatal women of a selected tertiary level hospital of Pune. Knowledge and practice were analysed by structured interview schedule which included questionnaire on knowledge and self reported rating scale on practice. Result 69 % had good knowledge about prevention of anaemia.59.5 % antenatal women were following good practices to prevent anaemia in pregnancy. There is a significant positive correlation between knowledge and practice. There is a significant relation between knowledge and practice with age, educational qualification and family income of study participants. Conclusion The current emphasis on health for all demands that every individual should be self sufficient and self reliant. Assessments of knowledge and practice and health education are essential step towards prevention of anaemia in pregnancy. Key words Antenatal women, Knowledge, Practice, Prevention of anaemia, Tertiary care hospital.