Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Pregnant Women in the Prevention of COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19, a new respiratory infection, emerged as a global pandemic in 2020. Pregnant women are immunocompromised, making them vulnerable to the disease, and there is no exact treatment yet. It is therefore essential to follow the control measures in preventing COVID-19.  This study was conducted to determine the KAP of pregnant women in the Rural Health Unit-Tayug, Pangasinan using a questionnaire. Pregnant women who obtained a positive pregnancy test up to the 40th week of pregnancy were selected for the research. Frequency, percentage, AWM, T-test, and ANOVA test were the statistics used in the study. The majority of the respondents belonged to the 21-30 years old age bracket, were single, high school graduate, unemployed, Roman Catholic, had one child, and had a monthly family income of less than 15, 000 pesos.  Pregnant women were knowledgeable on COVID-19 causes, signs and symptoms, mode of transmission, and management protocol. There was no significant difference between the KAP of the pregnant women across their profile variables except that those employed yielded significantly in attitude. KAP of pregnant women has no significant relationship with the profile variables. The pregnant women in this research had adequate knowledge and a positive attitude toward preventing COVID-19. Also, they highly practice preventive measures. Counseling and distribution of brochures are recommended to ensure the improvement of KAP of pregnant women in preventing COVID-19.