Knowledge of Childhood Immunisation and its associated factors among pregnant women in Imo State

Introduction: Mother’s vaccination practices may be influenced by their views and amount of information about child vaccinations. Misconceptions or rumours about the safety of vaccinations, poor awareness or wrong perception about vaccinations, and a lack of understanding or information about vaccinations are major barriers to high coverage of children. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of childhood immunisation and its associated factors among pregnant women. Methods: This descriptive community based cross sectional study was carried out among 290 expectant mothers in Imo State, Nigeria. The participants were selected using a multistage sampling technique. The data was collected using a semistructured interviewer administered questionnaire. The data was analysed using SPSS version 25. Chi square analysis was used to determine the relationship between variables at p0.05. Results: The result showed that 138(47.6%) were between the ages of 20-29 years, 256(88.3%) were married, 215(74.1%) attained secondary level of education and 171(59.0%) of the respondents had good knowledge of immunisation. The factors associated with immunisation were fathers’ education level 0.001, mothers employment status p=0.006 and family income p0.001. Conclusion: The study showed that most of the mothers had knowledge of immunisation although they still had some misconceptions with regards to child immunisation. More health education is needed especially among mothers to improve the knowledge and acceptance of immunisation.