School of Public Health, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia.
Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
PLoS One. 2020 Dec 17;15(12):e0244221. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244221. eCollection 2020.
Midwives and obstetricians are key maternity care providers; they are the most trusted source of information regarding nutrition and gestational weight gain. However, their views, practices and perceived barriers to managing pregnancy related weight gain have not been studied in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to explore midwives' and obstetricians' observations and perspectives about gestational weight gain and postpartum weight management in Ethiopia.
We conducted face-to-face interviews with 11 midwives and 10 obstetricians, from January 2019 to March 2019. All interview data were transcribed verbatim. We analysed the data using thematic analysis with an inductive approach.
We identified three themes and associated subthemes. Midwives and obstetricians had limited knowledge of the optimal gestational weight gain. Almost all participants were unaware of the presence of the Institute of Medicine recommendations for optimal weight gain in pregnancy. According to the study participants, women in Ethiopia do not want to gain weight during pregnancy, but do want to gain weight after the birth. Counselling about gestational weight gain and postpartum weight management was not routinely provided for pregnant women. This is mostly because gestational weight gain counselling was not considered to be a priority by maternity care providers in Ethiopia.
The limited knowledge of and low attention to pregnancy related weight management by midwives and obstetricians in this setting needs appropriate intervention. Adapting a guideline for pregnancy weight management and integrating it into antenatal care is essential.
助产士和产科医生是主要的产妇护理提供者；他们是关于营养和妊娠期体重增加的最可信信息来源。然而，在埃塞俄比亚，他们对管理与妊娠相关的体重增加的看法、实践和感知障碍尚未得到研究。本研究旨在探讨埃塞俄比亚助产士和产科医生对妊娠期体重增加和产后体重管理的观察和看法。
我们于 2019 年 1 月至 3 月期间对 11 名助产士和 10 名产科医生进行了面对面访谈。所有访谈数据均逐字转录。我们采用归纳法的主题分析方法对数据进行了分析。
我们确定了三个主题和相关的子主题。助产士和产科医生对最佳妊娠期体重增加的知识有限。几乎所有参与者都不知道存在美国医学研究所（Institute of Medicine）推荐的妊娠期最佳增重建议。根据研究参与者的说法，埃塞俄比亚的女性在怀孕期间不想增加体重，但希望在分娩后增加体重。没有为孕妇提供关于妊娠期体重增加和产后体重管理的咨询。这主要是因为在埃塞俄比亚，助产士和产科医生认为妊娠期体重增加咨询不是优先事项。
在这种情况下，助产士和产科医生对妊娠相关体重管理的知识有限且关注度低，需要进行适当的干预。适应妊娠体重管理指南并将其纳入产前保健至关重要。
