Knowledge, Attitude And Practices Of Women Regarding PMTCT Of HIV/AIDs In Mpigi Health Center (1V) Antenatal Clinic, Mpigi- Central Uganda

Abstract

Background Worldwide, an estimated 3.4 million children below 15 years of age are infected, 90% of whom live in the sub- Saharan Africa. About 150,000 of them live in Uganda. 95% of all pediatric HIV infections in this region result from mother to child transmission which occurs during pregnancy, labour and breastfeeding. But still this can be achieved through taking actions of preventing it from occurring from mother to child. Prevention of mother to child transmission can significally reduce the risk of MTCT. For this to be efficient pregnant mothers need to know about MTCT and PMTCT. This study sought to explore the knowledge, attitude and practices of pregnant women in Mpigi central Uganda regarding MTCT and its prevention to determine if the current strategy to help women gain this knowledge is working.

Methods The study was carried out at Mpigi Health Centre (IV). The participants included all pregnant women attending Antenatal clinic at the Health Centre from Monday to Friday and those who accepted to take part in the research. The study used an exploratory descriptive study design and involved 142 participants. Participants were selected using simple random sampling methods. A self- administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS, and presented in form of frequency tables, graphs and pie- charts.

Results The study revealed that; majority of the respondents 70.4% were aware of MTCT and 29.6% knew nothing and only 67.6% knew how it could be prevented. Regarding adequacy of knowledge most of the mothers had moderate knowledge and few had high knowledge. Majority of the pregnant women had positive attitude towards PMTCT intervention. The most identified source of information was Health workers and Mass media.

Conclusions Majority of the pregnant women at Mpigi Health Centre (IV) lacked adequate knowledge to prevent MTCT despite high awareness of MTCT there is need for PMTCT interventions.