Social support, self-care agency and self-care behaviors among pregnant women in Thai Binh, Vietnam: A cross-sectional analysis

To investigate the association between social support and self-care agency with maternal health behaviors among pregnant women in Thai Binh, Vietnam. This study employed a cross-sectional design with self-reported data from pregnant women. The study was conducted among 812 pregnant women. Quantitative data were collected using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Appraisal of Self-Care Agency - Revised scale, alongside questions regarding self-care behaviors (diet, exercise and micronutrient supplement intake). Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) of self-care agency (overall and three subcategories: having power, and developing power, and lacking power) and self-care behaviors in pregnancy as outcomes of social support (overall, from spouse, family or friends), adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and pregnancy-related covariates. Overall social support, social support from spouse, family or friends were positively associated with the overall and all three subcategories of self-care agency (ORs from 1.53 to 2.53). Overall social support and social support from friends were negatively associated with self-care behaviors related to diet (OR=0.84; 95%CI:0.76-0.94; and OR=0.80;95%CI: 0.72-0.90, respectively). Overall social support and social support from spouses were positively associated with micronutrient supplement intake (OR=1.33; 95%CI: 1.04-1.72; and OR=1.57; 95%CI: 1.14-2.17, respectively), while social support from spouses may influence exercise (OR=1.14; 95%CI: 0.99-1.32). Of the women, 97.5% reported a confidant to be one of their children. Social support appears to influence self-care agency and behaviors of pregnant women though their adherence to healthy diet is more complex.