Knowledge and practices of pregnant women in relation to the intake of drugs during pregnancy.

The present study was done to assess Knowledge and practices of expectant women regarding drug intake during pregnancy. To achieve this aim, a simple random sample of 400 pregnant women during their last trimester of pregnancy were selected. A specially designed interview schedule was developed and used to collect the necessary data about the study subjects. The interview schedule consisted of four main parts to cover the following: 1. General characteristics of the sample. 2. Obstetrical characteristics of the sample 3. Knowledge about drug intake during pregnancy. 4. Practices of the study subjects in relation to drug intake during pregnancy. 5. Factors affecting their knowledge regarding drug intake during pregnancy. The main findings of the study were: 1. In general, the study sample lacked the essential knowledge regarding drug intake during pregnancy especially in relation to the risk time for taking drugs in which nearly one-fifth of the sample (19.5%) did not know that it is risky to take drugs during pregnancy without doctor's order. 2. Regarding the practices of the study subjects in relation to drug intake during pregnancy, it was observed that the majority of the sample (86%) took drugs without prescription such as vitamins and general tonics, antacids, analgesics, anti-emetics, sedatives and antibiotics to treat their minor or major complaints during pregnancy. 3. In this study, it was also found that certain factors seemed to affect women's knowledge regarding drug intake during pregnancy. It was more obvious to observe that nearly two-thirds (60.8%) of women whose age was less than 30 years were more likely to have inadequate and poor knowledge in this respect. It was observed that the majority (81.9%) of illiterate women were more likely to have inadequate and poor knowledge about drug intake during pregnancy. It was also found that nearly three-quarters (72.3%) of housewives were more likely to have poor and inadequate knowledge. It was also noticed that the majority (81.5%) of the primigravidae women were more likely to have poor and inadequate knowledge. It was also noted that the majority of women (87.1%) who had previous abortions were more likely to have poor and inadequate knowledge.