Open AccessKnowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Health Professionals Towards Labor Companion in Health Institutions in Addis Ababa
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of women's health care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2573-9506
DOI - 10.33140/ijwhc/03/02/00002
Subject(s) - childbirth , logistic regression , medicine , descriptive statistics , odds ratio , nursing , empathy , family medicine , cross sectional study , psychology , pregnancy , social psychology , statistics , genetics , mathematics , pathology , biology
Background: The day of giving birth is a time of unique and intense absorption and learning for every parturient woman becauseof the interplay of a variety of stressors associated with childbirth such as pain, medical intervention, and hospitalization. Thus,women in labor have a profound need for companionship, empathy, help, and emotional support especially from family membersand friends to meet to their needs that the health professional may not be able to address. There is strong evidence showing thatcontinuous support during labor effectively improves delivery outcomes. It is factual that most of the facilities in Ethiopia do not havea policy that allows a companion in the delivery room to accompany the mother despite the dire need. The knowledge and attitudeof health professionals towards this support system has an immense effect on the implementation of this policy by the institutions.Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of health professionals towards labor companion in the healthinstitutions of Addis Ababa.Methods: Facility-based cross-sectional study in 30 health institutions of Addis Ababa was conducted using self-administeredstructured questionnaire from March 1 to June 30, 2016. The results were summarized using descriptive statistics. Bivariatelogistic regression analysis and odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval was used to assess the degree of associationbetween dependent and independent variables. The variables with significant association were entered into multivariate logisticregression model.Results: Among the total of 378 respondents, 275(72.8%) were females and 252(66.7%) were midwives. Most of the respondents,239(93.4%) stated to have knowledge on the importance of labor companion but only 167(44.2%) had adequate knowledge. Fromthe study participants, 239(63.2%) had positive attitude towards labor companion but only 139(36.8%) stated it is practiced intheir institution. Having adequate knowledge is significantly associated with positive attitude. Health professionals working inprivate institutions and health centers have the practice of allowing labor companion better than those in government hospitals.Conclusion and recommendation: This study concluded that less than half of the study participants have adequate knowledgeregarding the benefits of labor companion though majority have positive attitude. Health professionals should be updated onevidence-based support of labor companionship; and all the stakeholders involved should make the effort in bringing changetowards labor companion.