Importance Of Birth Spacing Among Primi Post Natal Mothers

Introduction :

Birth Spacing is important in child growth and development. The child is likely to receive his full share of love, care including nutrition needs, when the Family size is small & births are properly spaced. Infants and mothers are extremely important part of the society as it lays the foundation for good nation. To achieve this it is necessary to improve the knowledge regarding child spacing. It is also well known that children born close together do not usually develop physically and mentally as well as children born three or more years apart. Birth spacing is the interval between births that provides the greatest health, social and economical benefits for family. Enabling couples to determine when they will have children is vital to safe motherhood and healthy children. Birth spacing refers to the time interval from one child's birth date until the next child's birth date. However, researchers agree that 2 ½ years to 3years between births is usually best for the well being of mother and her children.

The study on birth spacing will be helpful for women to know their existing knowledge and also helpful for spouse and other members of the family because they will also be able to share and obtain the knowledge on birth spacing. The researcher is interested on this topic because, Most of the women do not make decision on family planning, their husbands take decision on family planning, contraceptive prevalence rate is also low in our country, and many women give birth within 24 months of previous birth.

Need For The Study:

An Indian women plays a vital role in contributing and preparing responsible citizen for the nation . The health of the women is an important component not only during reproductive years but also throughout the cause of her life. Women's health focus on the physical psychological and social needs, reproductive capacity of women plays an important role in helping them lives and health experiences. The ability to reproductive and regulate this fertility depends upon reproductive health.

There may be very personal reasons why time is needed between pregnancies planning enough time between pregnancies increases the chance of a good outcome for the mother and each of her babies . If a parent has experienced a miscarriage or loss of a child, they may need time to grieve, evaluate their risks and work through their fears and anxieties before considering a future pregnancy. A couple or their child may have a medical condition which needs to be managed before they are able to begin or continue childrearing or a woman may be in her later reproductive years and be felling the need to have her pregnancies spaced closer together in order to achieve the family size she desires . A planned pregnancy is more likely to have a good outcome for the mother and baby.

Statement of The Problem

“A STUDY ON EFFECTIVENESS OF STRUCTURED TEACHING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRTH SPACING AMONG PRIMI POST NATAL MOTHERS IN A SELECTED HOSPITAL AT COIMBATORE”.

Objectives

• To analyze the socio-demographic profile of respondents.

• Assess the knowledge on birth spacing among primi post natal mothers as measured by using structured knowledge questionnaire.

• Find the association between the knowledge score of primi post natal mothers with selected demographic variables.

• To make suggestions based on the findings of the study.

Materials and Methods :

Research Design - The research design selected for the present study was descriptive in nature.

Setting of the study:

• Study will be conducted in the post natal ward department of a selected hospital at PSG Hospitals.

Source of data collection

The data will be collected from 60 primi post natal mothers admitted in the post natal ward of a selected hospital at Coimbatore, who fulfill the inclusion criteria.

Population:

• Population consists of all primi post natal mothers in a selected hospital at Coimbatore.

Methodology :

Results and Discussion:

SECTION III: EFFECTIVENESS OF AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME

The data shows that the mean post-test knowledge scores of primi post natal mothers were significantly higher than their mean pretest knowledge scores t (59) =1.671, and tab calculated value ‘t’=23.09 p <0.05 indicating there is significant difference pretest and post test knowledge scores. Hence research hypothesis H1 was accepted.

The primi post natal mothers were significantly higher mean score in post test than the mean pre-test . The analysis shows that the calculated value in all the areas are greater than the table value (p<0.05).This shows that there was significant gain in the knowledge in all the areas of importance and methods of contraceptive methods. Therefore the educational programme has been an effective method of increasing the knowledge of the mothers.

Table 1

1Distribution of pretest and post test knowledge scores of the primi post natal mothers on importance of birth spacing

Score Range	Frequency		Percentage
	pre test	Post test	pre test	Post test
Poor (0-12)	36	0	60	0
Average (13-25)	11	12	18.3	20
Good (26-37)	13	48	21.7	80

Table 2

Mean, Standard Deviation, ‘t’ value of pre test and post test

Test	Mean	Mean	SD	Df	't' value	'P' value difference (LOS)
Pre test	6.96	25.19	6.102	59	27.94	0.000 P<0.05 HS
Post test	32.15

Table 3

Area-wise mean difference, standard deviation and't' value of pretest and posttest knowledge scores.

S. NO	Areas	Mean knowledge scores		Mean difference	DF	SD	“t” value	“p” value
		Pre test	Post test
1	Definition & Importance	1.70	4.92	3.22	59	1.20	16.87	.000 P<0.05HS
2	Natural family planning	3.92	7.05	3.12	59	1.82	10.81	.000 P<0.05HS
3	Barrier methods	5.42	9.77	4.35	59	2.47	11.11	.000 P<0.05HS
4	Intrauterine Devices	1.80	4.85	3.05	59	1.44	13.31	.000 P<0.05HS
5	Hormonal Method	1.82	3.40	1.57	59	1.48	6.71	.000 P<0.05HS
6	Emergency Contraceptive Method	0.16	0.95	0.79	59	0.45	13.35	.000 P<0.05HS
7	Injectable Steroids	0.25	5.60	5.31	59	0.91	44.25	.000 P<0.05HS

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Figure 1

Percentage distribution of women according to their age

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Figure 3

Percentage distribution of women according to their Educational Status

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Figure 2

Percentage distribution of women according to their Religion

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Figure 4

Percentage distribution of women according to their Occupational Status

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Figure 5

Distribution of women according to their Type of

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Conclusion :

In this study a structured teaching programme was given to primi post natal mothers and its effectiveness was evaluated. The data presented indicate that the post test mean percentage knowledge scores in all content areas were higher than the pretest mean percentage knowledge scores. The modified mean percentage score is also good in all the areas and which shows the educational programme was effective. The nurses play a key role in patient care from the day of admission to the day of discharge; nurse is with the patient, caring and consoling. So, the nurse is expected to give nursing care as well as health teaching regarding importance of birth spacing and contraceptive methods and it can be better understood by the patients, family members and the community at large.