Department of Midwifery, College of Health science, Mekelle University, Mekele, Ethiopia.
Department of Nursing, College of Health science, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2022 Aug 9;17(8):e0262805. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262805. eCollection 2022.
If pregnant mothers have no medical or obstetrical complications, they are encouraged to maintain active lifestyles during their pregnancies. Benefits of exercise during pregnancy include; prevention of gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and reduced low back pain. Therefore this study is done to assess knowledge, attitude and practice towards antenatal exercise among pregnant women who are attending antenatal care at health centers of Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia.
For this study cross-sectional study design was used. It was conducted from October 2019 up to January 2020 among 255 pregnant women who are attending antenatal care at selected health centers of Mekelle city. After the data were collected it was entered into epi-data 4.2.0 and was analyzed by using SPSS version 23.
Among the study participants of pregnant women 51%, 56% and 16.6% had good knowledge, positive attitude and practice towards antenatal exercise respectively. Among those 38.8%, 45.9% and 49.8% were expressed as antenatal exercise can decrease back pain, prevents excessive weight gain and increase energy and stamina during pregnancy respectively. Among those who practiced antenatal exercise, 95% and 83.4% was practicing with frequency ≥ three times per week and ≥20 minutes of the duration of exercise per session respectively.
Generally, this study showed that the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant mothers regarding antenatal exercise is poor. Therefore, health care providers who work on maternal health (Gynecologists, Midwives, Nurses, Health extension workers and other community workers) should provide counseling and health education on antenatal exercise.
如果孕妇没有医疗或产科并发症，鼓励她们在怀孕期间保持积极的生活方式。怀孕期间运动的好处包括预防妊娠糖尿病、先兆子痫和减少下腰痛。因此，本研究旨在评估在埃塞俄比亚提格雷地区梅开勒市卫生中心接受产前护理的孕妇对产前运动的知识、态度和实践。
本研究采用了横断面研究设计。它于 2019 年 10 月至 2020 年 1 月在选定的梅开勒市卫生中心接受产前护理的 255 名孕妇中进行。收集数据后，将其输入 epi-data 4.2.0 并使用 SPSS 版本 23 进行分析。
在研究参与者中，孕妇的知识、态度和产前运动的实践分别为 51%、56%和 16.6%。在这些人中，38.8%、45.9%和 49.8%分别表示产前运动可以减轻背痛、防止体重过度增加和增加怀孕期间的能量和耐力。在进行产前运动的孕妇中，95%和 83.4%分别以每周≥3 次和每次≥20 分钟的频率进行运动。
一般来说，这项研究表明，孕妇对产前运动的知识、态度和实践水平较差。因此，从事产妇保健的卫生保健提供者（妇科医生、助产士、护士、卫生推广工作者和其他社区工作者）应提供关于产前运动的咨询和健康教育。
