| dc.description.abstract | Maternal morbidity and mortality is largely attributed to the late referral of complicated and prolonged labor cases. The partograph has proved to be an effective instrument in monitoring and follow up of labor progress. The referral maternity of Mbale still receive delayed and poorly managed labor cases from the peripheral health units.
The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and the practices of the partograpgh among midwives in Mbale hospital. It was a descriptive cross sectional study where the midwives of Mbale hospital who accepted to enroll in the study were interviewed with Pre-printed questionnaires, containing both closed and open ended questions. Health workers who were not directly concerned with the delivery of mothers in the labor ward and students were excluded. The study lasted for 3 months, from July to September 2014.
The results revealed that the midwives had a good knowledge of the partograph. They also had a positive attitude towards the partograph. However, the partograph was not routinely being used with only 52.5% of the respondents using it regularly. The heavy work load coupled with high numbers of mothers who come to deliver makes the use of the partograph time consuming, very tasking and tiresome which could influence a negative attitude towards it's use.
Despite the good knowledge of the partograph and the positive attitudes towards its use, the rate of use still remains very low. I do recommend that the training of personnel should be more practical and the partograph made available in all maternity units. Better yet, an audit system should be put in place to ensure the effective and routine use of the partograpgh.
KEYWORDS: Partograph – Labor – Knowledge – Attitude - Practice. | en_US |
