A comparative assessment of knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy amongst rural and urban women attending immunization clinics in primary healthcare centers in bayelsa state

Introduction: Pregnancy danger signs can show up suddenly, and difficulties can follow, which might damage or even kill the mother and her unborn child. During pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum phase, these risk signs appear as unusual symptoms. They should be known to the expectant woman as well as to non-professionals. Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness (BPCR) involves planning a delivery budget, making decisions in an emergency, and comprehending the process and the problems of pregnancy. One of the major components of BPCR is knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy. Objective: To assess and compare the knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy amongst rural and urban women attending immunization clinics in primary healthcare centers in Bayelsa State. Methods: It was a comparative cross-sectional study. The stratified sampling technique was used in the selection of the LGAs, and the simple random sampling technique was used in the selection of the study participants. Data were collected using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The average level of very good knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy, with a score of 50points on the Likert scale with the ten variables studied, shows that the Urban group (Yenagoa) respondents, 84.7% had very good knowledge, and the rural group (Ogbia) had 56.6% of their respondents having very good knowledge. While those who have good knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy with a score of 40points, in the Ogbia group, 24.5% of the respondents had 40 40points, and in the Yenagoa group, 12.1% had 40points. In the Ogbia group, on average, 1.7% of the respondents had poor knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy with 20points on the Likert scale, and 0.7% had very poor knowledge with 10points. None of the respondents in the Yenagoa group had poor or very poor knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy. Conclusion: The knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy in this study was generally high and it was higher in the urban group as compared to the rural group. There is a need for more health education, especially in rural areas, on knowledge for positive behavioral change as regards danger signs of pregnancy.