Title: THE PERCEIVED EFFECT OF ANTE-NATAL EDUCATION ON THE HEALTH OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN NSUKKA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ENUGU STATE

Authors:
Onu Rachael Ifeoma & Ezugwu Evelyn Ukamaka

Abstract: Abstract Pregnancy is the process of growing another human being in the womb till the time of birth. Knowing that another human being will soon come into the world should bring joy to every home but unfortunately, it’s not usually so due to complications. Such complications could be anemia, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, bleeding, preterm labour among others. These complications if not properly managed can lead to miscarriages, delay or prevent future pregnancy or even lead to death the woman as the case may be. However, these complications could be prevented through ante-natal education. Antenatal education is the education given to pregnant women during the routine ante-natal visit in the hospitals or clinics. This section is handled by nurses, midwives or even the doctors as the case may be. Effective ante-natal education helps in early detection of danger signs, prepares women for her delivery day, improves child delivery and reduces maternal child death. Irrespective of these effect of ante-natal education on pregnant women, there still exist some complications in various areas of the country leading to this study ‘Perceived effects of ante-natal education in Nsukka Local Government Area. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The sample for the study is 150 pregnant women selected from a population of 316 pregnant women registered in government and private registered hospitals and health centres in Nsukka. 4 research questions were generated for the study. Questionnaire of 4-point scale was used for data collection. The data collected were analysed using mean in which items from 2.50 were accepted while items below 2.50 were rejected. The major findings of the study revealed that ante-natal health education provided to the pregnant women included danger signs in pregnancy, preparation for labour, nutrition in pregnancy. The study also found that ante-natal health education enhanced early detection of danger signs in pregnancy, reduced maternal and child mortality. Furthermore, the findings showed that the pregnant women experienced challenges such as poor teaching methods, inadequate/insufficient health workers among other findings. The study concluded that ante-natal health education impacted significantly in the lives of pregnant women in Nsukka local government area, reducing maternal and child mortality and should be improved by providing solutions to those challenges. The study hereby, recommends that adequate/sufficient modern digital teaching facilities should be provided by the government, non-governmental organizations and philanthropist to hospitals and ante-natal clinics. Government should also solve the problem of insufficient health workers by improving in the economic situation of the country which is the main reason our health workers are leaving the country in droves for greener pasture. Key words: Ante-natal, Health Education, Pregnant, Nsukka Local Government.

Publication Date: 2026-07-20