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Item Knowledge and Perception of Risk in Pregnancy and Childbirth among Women in Low-Income Communities in Accra(Women, 2022-11-22) Anafi, Patricia; Mprah, Wisdom KwadwoPerception and knowledge of risk factors for pregnancy influence health behaviors during pregnancy and childbirth. We used a descriptive qualitative study to examine the perception and knowledge of risk factors in pregnancy and childbirth in low-income urban women in Ghana. Over the course of three-months, 12 focus group discussions and six individual interviews were conducted with 90 participants selected from six communities in the study area. Data were analyzed using inductive-thematic content analysis. Findings revealed that participants had knowledge of some risk factors, although some had superstitious beliefs. Participants viewed pregnancy as an exciting and unique experience, but also challenging, with a host of medical and psychological risks. Pre-existing medical conditions (e.g., diabetes), lack of physical activity, poverty, poor nutrition, and lack of social support were identified as conditions that could lead to negative pregnancy outcomes. Superstitious beliefs such as exposure to “evil eye” during pregnancy, as well as curses and spells, were also identified as risk factors for pregnancy complications. This research has implications for policies and programs to improve pregnancy outcomes for low-income women in Ghana. Thus, we recommend social and economic support programs as well as health education to change misperceptions about pregnancy risk and to support other efforts being made to improve maternal health outcomes.Item The expected and actual communication of health care workers during the management of intrapartum: An interpretive multiple case study(African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 2015-12-03) M'Rithaa, Doreen K.M.; Fawcus, Sue; Korpela, Mikko; Harpe, Retha De laBackground: Daily activities within a health care organisation are mediated by information communication processes (ICP) involving multiple health care professionals at different levels of care. Effective perinatal management requires critical information to be accurately communicated. If there is a breakdown in this communication patient safety is at risk for various reasons such as: inadequate critical information, misconception of information and uninformed decisions being made. The purpose of this study was to interpret the complexities around ICP in order to contribute to the effective management of the intrapartum period. Methods: Multi method, multiple case study approach was used to understand the ICP during the management of the intrapartum period. During the study, the expected ICP, the actual ICP, the challenges involved and the desired ICP were analysed. Twenty-four in-depth interviews with skilled birth attendants (SBAs) employing observer-as-participant roles, field notes, and document review methods were utilised to gather the data. Thematic analysis was utilised to analyse the data using Atlas TI software. Results: The study revealed three subthemes which emerged from the expected ICP, whilst three others that emerged formed the theme actual ICP. The subthemes from the expected ICP included: accessibility of obstetric services, expected referral, recommended tools, expected communication and expected documentation. The theme actual ICP held threee merging subthemes: the handover processes, collaborative information seeking, information communicated and referral processes. Conclusion: This study showed that what was expected was not what was actually happening. The requirements of the policies and protocols need to be effectively implemented to improve practice building these into current biomedical guidelines.