article · Journal of Public Health in Africa
Urinary tract infections are common during pregnancy and can cause serious complications for mothers and newborns. A cross-sectional survey assessed genital hygiene behaviours among 80 pregnant women attending antenatal care at two health facilities. Most participants had completed primary education and lived with a partner. Overall, 70.1 percent reported wearing cotton undergarments, and 76.3 percent followed recommended gynaecological measures for daily cleansing. Most women washed both the vulva and vagina, with water being the most common cleansing agent at 63.8 percent. However, risky hygiene practices were observed: more than a third used synthetic underwear, and over a third of participants reported using antiseptic solutions to clean their genitals, frequently applying them directly to the vagina. While general hygiene knowledge was acceptable, these findings highlight the need for targeted healthcare provider training and community communication strategies on safe genital care.
Urinary tract infections during pregnancy pose severe risks to maternal and infant health. Improper genital hygiene, such as douching with antiseptic solutions, can disrupt natural protective microflora and elevate infection risks. Identifying common hygiene habits helps public health programmes and healthcare facilities design better educational guidance to prevent avoidable infections during antenatal care.
The abstract does not indicate a direct commercial application pathway, as it reports descriptive public health survey data. However, the findings could inform the design of maternal health education programmes, healthcare worker training modules, or public health communication campaigns delivered by clinics and community health organisations.
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The female genital tracts harbor a wide variety of microorganisms' knowns as microflora mostly constituted by lactobacilli, involved in the healthy state of the vagina without causing infection. Urinary tract infections (UTI) are frequent in pregnant women due to physiological and anatomical changes that occur during pregnancy. These infections can result to disabilities or serious health problems both for the mother and the new-born. Vaginal douching has been reported among risky practices associate with UTIs. However, this remains debatable and contradictory when other studies report the benefit effects of vaginal cleaning in infection prevention. The aim of this study was to assess pregnant women behaviors and practices regarding genital hygiene. This was a cross sectional descriptive study conducted on exhaustive sample of pregnant women coming for antenatal visits in Lafé Sub-divisional Hospital (SDH) and Baleng Catholic Health Center (BCHC) between 16 and 30 September 2013. Data were collected using a paper based standardized questionnaire directly self-administered after obtain a free consent. Overall, 80 pregnant women were enrolled. The majority of them had attended at least primary education (97.5%; n=78/80) and many were lived in couple (81.25%; n=65/80). Almost one on three participants identified antenatal consultation (ANC) as a key element to be taken into account by pregnant women. 70.1% (n=56/80) of women declared wearing undergarments in cotton. Regarding the daily vaginal douching behaviors, the majority (76.3%; n=61/80) of participants used the recommended gynecological measure, while the remaining use self-prescribed measures. Both genital parts (vulva area and vagina) were cleaned and use of water was mostly cited (63.8%; n=51/80). Almost one participant on four (n=29/80) use antiseptic solutions for genital cleaning. Antiseptic solutions were associated with water in 34.5% of cases (n=10/29), and in 65.5% (n=19/29) of cases it was used only for the vagina. Our findings suggest that knowledge and genital hygiene cleaning practices are acceptable among our study population. Risky practices such as use of antiseptic solutions and synthetic underwear's were reported. Skills of health care providers on good hygiene practices for pregnant should be improved and community-based communication strategies need to be implemented to reach all women of child bearing age.
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DOI: 10.4081/jphia.2019.746
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