ISSN: 2574-7770
Authors: Guptaa P, Tayaa S, Rafat D* and Nawabc T
Objective: To assess knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practices of healthcare providers (HCP) regarding physical activity (PA) during pregnancy. Methodology: A convenient sample of 132 HCP, including General Practitioners, Obstetricians/Gynaecologists and Registered Nurses participated in this cross sectional, descriptive study. Data pertaining to their knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding PA during pregnancy was collected using interviewer-administered 36 item questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and frequency tables were calculated and compared for the responses. Result: Overall 97% of participants believed that PA during pregnancy is beneficial but 58.3% agreed that advising patients regarding PA during pregnancy is not a major component of their antenatal care and 63.5% doesn’t include any individualized recommendation on exercise for pregnant women. Although HCPs beliefs and attitude responses were largely positive regarding exercise in pregnancy however there was misalignment between the published recommendations and clinical practice. Conclusion: HCPs can serve an important role in women's health behaviours through promotion of physical activity adherence during and after pregnancy by providing appropriate advice and counselling regarding PA during pregnancy. The current study found that HCPs lacked adequate knowledge and awareness of the optimal PA during pregnancy and were unable to provide proper counselling for the same despite of majority of them having positive belief and attitude towards PA during pregnancy. In order to effectively promote prenatal PA in clinical or community settings, more research is required to study the PA prescription and counselling practices of HCPs and knowledge of challenges impeding successful delivery of the aforementioned.
Keywords: Knowledge; Physical Activity; Healthcare Providers; Pregnancy
