Abstract;

Background: Alcohol consumption during pregnancy contributes to numerous negative health effects to both mother and the developing fetus(1, 2).Both moderate and binge drinking are risk factors for neonatal health(3) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is among the serious negative effects of heavy alcohol drinking during pregnancy, alcohol can also damage the Central Nervous System causing reduced attention span, receptive language and visual motor skills(4). Globally it has been estimated about 10% of women consume alcohol during pregnancy (2), and in Tanzania about 34.1% of pregnant women drink alcohol during pregnancy.(5) Describing the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women regarding alcohol consumption during pregnancy and its effects on the fetus can lead to improving prevention strategies.

Objective: This study aimed at assessing knowledge and attitude towards alcohol consumption among pregnant women attending ANC at Nyamagana District hospital.

Methodology: This hospital-based cross-section prospective study was conducted among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at Nyamagana district hospital Total of 187 pregnant women were enrolled in the study. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Ethical clearance was obtained from CUHAS Research and ethics committee.

Results: The study enrolled 187 pregnant women with mean age of 27 years, among them 50.8% had heard about effects of alcohol on the fetus and 24.6% had heard of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Although 120 pregnant women agreed that alcohol can affect the unborn child,18 disagreed and 49 were unsure Also 65.8% of women agreed that pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol. Participants with good knowledge were 10 and their total score ranged from 9to 16 while 177 had poor knowledge and their total score ranged from 0 to 8.

Conclusion: In this study I found that Nyamagana pregnant women have poor knowledge on specific effects of alcohol in pregnancy to the unborn child and there was disjunction between knowledge and attitude towards alcohol consumption in pregnancy.