La Trobe

Usefulness of antenatal care handbook: a cross-sectional study of mothers' perspectives

Download (2.51 MB)
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-07, 02:27 authored by Queenita Anak Luta, Khadizah H. Abdul-MuminKhadizah H. Abdul-Mumin, Hanif Abdul Rahman, Sarena Haji HashimSarena Haji Hashim

In 2016, the Ministry of Health Brunei Darussalam introduced the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbook, replacing the card-type record. Despite its implementation, the handbook’s utility remains unexamined. This study aims to evaluate the community’s usage of the MCH handbook and explore the connections between age, education, and handbook utilization. A cross-sectional study employed an online self-administered survey among pregnant women attending routine antenatal checkups at 32 weeks gestation between December 2020 and January 2021. The survey used the MCH Usefulness Questionnaire, and subgroup analysis was conducted. The study included 73 mothers. Most participants reported having sufficient time to read the handbook (95.9%), being familiar with its content (89.0%), and feeling satisfied with its usage (93.2%). Reasons for not using the handbook included “online availability of the same information” (20.5%), difficulty in understanding certain words (17.8%), preference for more visual content (12.3%), and inadequate encouragement from health-care providers (12.3%). The majority of mothers perceive the handbook as useful. Nonetheless, further investigation is necessary to delve into their perceptions and ensure the handbook’s sustained relevance and effectiveness over time.

History

Publication Date

2024-04-22

Journal

Healthcare in Low-resource Settings

Volume

12

Issue

1

Article Number

11813

Pagination

6p.

Publisher

PAGEPress

ISSN

2281-7824

Rights Statement

© 2023 the Author(s) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Usage metrics

    Journal Articles

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC