Knowledge and Practices of Management and prevention of anemia in pregnancy among Mid-Level Health Care Providers of Rural Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh

Abstract Anaemia is a significant global health issue, particularly in developing countries, with serious consequences during pregnancy and beyond. According to WHO, 115,000 maternal deaths annually are attributed to iron deficiency anaemia. In India, 45.7% of urban and 52.1% of rural pregnant women have low haemoglobin levels. The Government of India launched Anaemia Mukt Bharat to reduce anaemia by 3% annually. Mid-Level Health Providers (MLHPs) play a crucial role in providing preventive care at Health and Wellness Centres. Objectives: To assess the knowledge and practices of management and prevention of anemia in pregnancy among MLHP’s and to determine the association between knowledge and practices with their sociodemographic profile. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 209 MLHP’s working at Health and Wellness Centres in Rural Kakinada. Data was collected by a structured questionnaire from June to July 2023. Knowledge and Practice scores were categorised as Good, Fair and Poor based on % of correct responses. Statistical analysis was performed and a p-value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Institutional Ethics Committee approval was obtained priorly. Results: Out of 209 MLHPs, nearly half 56.5% belonged to the 22–25year age group. 93.3% were females. Most of them 77% were Hindus, 90.9% possessed a BSc Nursing degree. Nearly half i.e 50.7% had 1-2 years of experience, followed by 26.8% with 3 or more years, and 22.5% with less than 1 year of experience. About 64% had good knowledge, 33.4% had fair knowledge and only2.34% had Poor knowledge. whereas in the level of practices, only 9.5%had a good score and remaining 90.4% had fair practice level. There was no significant association between knowledge with selected demographic variables, but in practices Gender showed significant association (=6.26 P< 0.012). Conclusion: The study revealed that significant proportion (64%) of MLHP’s exhibited good knowledge and (90.4%) demonstrated fair practices. Only Gender shows significant association for practices.