Knowledge, Attitude and Perception On Anaemia in Pregnancy Among Pregnant Women in Lagos State, Nigeria

Anaemia is one of the most common nutritional deficiency illnesses and a global public health problem that affects both developing and industrialized countries, with severe implications for human health as well as social and economic development. The iron deficiency anaemia is one of the most shared type of anaemia which would regularly affect women of procreative age group, particularly pregnant women. The study investigated the knowledge, attitude and perception on anaemia in pregnancy among pregnant women in Ojo local government area Lagos state. A cross sectional study was conducted among pregnant women in Ojo local government, Lagos state. The assessment of the knowledge, attitude and perception on anaemia in pregnancy was done using questionnaire as the method of data collection. Three hundred completely filled responses were retrieved. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 was used in analysing the collected data so as to generate frequency, tables under the branch of descriptive statistics. The study revealed that 228(76%) of the respondents are aware of anaemia in pregnancy. Among the 228 respondents who are aware of anaemia in pregnancy, 143(62.7%) got the information from health Centre, 14(6.1%) got it from a friend, 71(31.2%) got it from the internet. Hence, most of the respondent heard about anaemia in pregnancy from the health Centre. 152(50.7%), agreed that regular antenatal check-up of blood tests are essential during pregnancy. However, majority of the respondents are aware of anaemia in pregnancy. Findings from this study revealed that respondents have a good knowledge on anaemia including the signs and symptoms associated with it. It was recommended among others that educative materials, posters and leaflets on anaemia prevention should be made available to convey messages on the dangers of anaemia especially in pregnancy. Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Perception, Anaemia, Pregnancy,Special Issue, Issue: 6, Vol. 3, June 2021, WWW.IJARBAS.CO