The Effect of Prenatal Care Group Education on Pregnant Mothers' Knowledge, Attitude and Practice

Introduction: Effective prenatal education may play an important role in decreasing diseases and morbidity and therefore promoting mother's health. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of group education (by a standard teaching model) on knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant mothers. Methods: This study was a field trial which was performed on 60 pregnant women in their 6th to 8th gesta-tional age. Samples were divided into two groups randomly. The experiment group was instructed using the standard protocol developed by maternal health unit of Isfahan Provincial Health Center and the control group received the routine prenatal instructions. In the standard protocol, the educational needs during the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy were determined and 14 training sessions with prepared lesson plans were designed. The data were gathered by a questionnaire. Results: Mother's knowledge in second and third trimester was significantly higher in intervention group compared to the control group. Also, it was almost significant in the first trimester. But, the educational program had no effect on mothers' attitude and no difference between the attitude of the two groups of intervention and control was observed. In contrast, the education had a positive effect on mothers' practice and a significant difference was revealed between the practices of the two groups. Conclusion: Considering the special features of this educational model, implementing this program as a continuous intervention in all health care centers could improve the quality of prenatal care.