العلاقة بين الوعي والمعتقدات الصحية مع سلوك الوقاية من فقر الدم لدى النساء الحوامل.

The Relationship between Awareness and Health Beliefs with Anemia Prevention Behavior of Pregnant Women.

There is a high rate of anemia in underdeveloped countries, which leads to increased maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. All pregnant women are at risk of developing anemia. Thus, the study’s objective is to evaluate pregnant women’s Awareness, their health beliefs about their relationship to preventive behavior.
A descriptive, correlational study was conducted on a sample of 250 pregnant women at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Teaching Hospital in the city of Kerbela for the period from 25th Feb to 5th April. The credibility of the questionnaire was investigated through submitted to experts to prove its reliability and validity. Data were collected using interview techniques and analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis approach.
According to the findings, most pregnant women (40.8% had a moderate degree of awareness, 41.6% had moderate health beliefs, and 56.4% had inadequate preventive behavior). Pregnant women are more likely to take measures to prevent anemia if they are aware of the condition r = 0.370; p = 0.00″ and have health-related thoughts about anemia r = 0.279; p = 0.00. There was a substation relation among protective behavior and the age of marriage “p = 0.001”, maternal education “p = 0.001”, maternal income “p = 0.002”, and maternal information sources “p = 0.010”.
The preventive behavior of anemia in pregnant women depends on their awareness and health beliefs. A decrease in the prevalence of anemia occurs due to women’s health awareness and ideas. Therefore, pregnant women need to intervene in health awareness programs via social media to improve their preventive behavior.