Dietary practice amongst pregnant women in a Tertiary Hospital, South East Nigeria

Abstract

The nutritional condition of a mother at the time of conception, during pregnancy and breastfeeding plays an important role in determining her health and well-being, as well as that of her newborn. Objective: This study assessed practice of proper nutrition during pregnancy to ensure a healthier pregnancy journey. Methodology: This was an observational prospective hospital based study, conducted in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital. Two hundred pregnant women participated in the study. Self-administered questionnaire was used to ascertain information on socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics, dietary practice/knowledge of nutrition required during pregnancy and factors associated with dietary practices. Data collected were analysis with Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (IBM Chicago) version 28. Categorical variables were presented in frequencies and percentages while symmetrical continuous variables were presented using mean and standard deviations with 95% confidence intervals around the point estimates. Result: The result revealed that, out of the two hundred participants in the study, only 44 (22%) of pregnant women had good dietary practice. Also, mother’s educational status, monthly income, marital status and dietary knowledge were significantly association with good dietary practice. Conclusion and recommendation: The number of participants with good dietary practice from this study is 44(22%). This finding shows that majority of the participants lacked in knowledge of nutritional requirements in pregnancy and this poses a serious threat to pregnant women and their unborn babies. Therefore, advocacy and awareness creation on good nutritional / dietary practice among pregnant women are indicated.