Abstract:

Background: Malaria in pregnancy is one of the major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality as well as poor outcome of pregnancy. We study the knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women on malaria prevention also assess the knowledge of Sulphadoxine Pyrimethamine (SP) for intermittent preventive therapy in pregnancy (IPT-SP).

Method: A cross sectional study was carried out on September 2018 with a sample size of 386 pregnant women was selected by using systematic random sampling from antenatal clinic attendance at Magu district Mwanza. Information on knowledge of IPT and utilization was obtained by using structured questionnaire. Ethical clearance was obtained from CUHAS ethical committee.

Results: The study involved 396 pregnant women. Of about 74.75% admitted to have heard of IPTp, 66.16% knew the IPTp drug that they were required to take and over 50% mentioned SP and the source they heard about IPTp-SP. However, 59-34 had no idea on the frequency of dose they were supposed to take the IPTp-SP. 60.51% respondents found it beneficial for them to take IPTp-SP without being tested positive for malaria. More than half of the respondents had taken at least one dose of IPTp-SP and took under DOT-scheme.

Conclusion: The level of awareness, attitude and practice of IPTp-SP has increased among pregnant women and health practitioners due to increased sensitization programs that were suggested from previous studies. These findings underscore to create more need of awareness and improve knowledge on IPTp among pregnant and all women of child bearing age.