effects of maternal health education on the health knowledge and attitude of pregnant mothers attending ante-natal clinics in Anambra State, Nigeria

Pregnancy continues to carry a high risk of death worldwide, despite numerous commitments to address the issues that increase maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is a tragedy for the family, as the death of a mother deprives the child of breast feeding and can result in infant mortality. Maternal health education is aimed at improving health knowledge of mothers and enhancing their health attitude. This study was designed to determine the effects of maternal health education on the health knowledge and attitude of pregnant mothers attending antenatal clinics in Anambra State. Demographic variables of level of education and parity were considered in this study. Quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, design was used for the study. The sample consisted of 119 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in the sampled health facilities in Anambra State. Purposive sampling technique was adopted for the study.  A validated Maternal Health Knowledge and Attitude Questionnaire (MHKAQ) was used to collect data. Its reliability was established through Cronbach’s Alpha method which yielded 0.84. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistic of means for answering the research questions (mean difference). The null hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at .05 level of significance. The results among others showed that mothers with tertiary education recorded the highest mean difference health knowledge scores (10.57) and mean difference health attitude scores (13.24) over others. Maternal health education had significant influence on health knowledge of pregnant mothers (P < .05). Researchers therefore concluded that maternal health education increased health knowledge and enhanced positive attitude of pregnant mothers. Hence, the following recommendations among others were made: maternal health education must be upheld in every antenatal clinic. From time to time, the maternal health education program for antenatal mothers should be reviewed and restructured to meet up with their current health needs.