Abstract:

Background: Globally, Puerperal sepsis causes 11% of all maternal deaths and it is also the third leading cause of direct maternal mortality in developing nations. It has been estimated that 30 million patients are affected by puerperal sepsis and nearly 6 million among them die. Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected by puerperal sepsis particularly among vulnerable populations such as those with HIV/AIDS infection. One in 10 maternal deaths worldwide are attributed to sepsis. (2)Hence due to, adequate knowledge and awareness among postpartum women regarding puerperal sepsis and its prevention are crucial for early recognition, prompt treatment and prevention of this condition.

Methodology: Its hospital based cross sectional study which was conducted at BMC from June 2024 to August 2024. The sample size enrolled was 194 involving all postpartum women who were able and willing to participate in the study. Data was analyzed by IBM SPSS version 25.

Results: a total of 194 participants were recruited with the mean age of 23.1 years with IQR (24.5-34.5). Majority being 78.93% were Christian, 63.4% had secondary education, only 69.66% were married and 45.33% were employed. Moreover, nearly half 49.74% have received information about puerperal sepsis and nearly all 85.3% participants responded yes on the question that if they know that puerperal sepsis occurs during and after pregnancy.
The awareness of puerperal sepsis among the study participants at BMC was 63% and level of knowledge towards prevention on puerperal sepsis was 35%.

Conclusion: Less than half of postnatal women had adequate knowledge, but two-thirds had good awareness of the matter. Post-natal women’s residence, and education level had shown statistical significance with knowledge of puerperal sepsis. Attending formal education and being knowledgeable was associated with good knowledge and preventive practices among postnatal women.