A Study to Assess the Knowledge and Practice on Prevention of Puerperal Sepsis Among Postnatal Mothers in Selected Hospital, Puducherry with a View to Develop an Information Booklet

Postpartum period or puerperium is the period following childbirth and of great importance for both mother and baby as it is an aspect of maternity care which receives less attention compared to pregnancy and delivery. Also, the others are less aware of their health while taking care of newborn baby and also many alarming complications can arise due to lack of knowledge in preventive measures. So it is necessary to assess the knowledge and practice of postnatal mothers regarding the prevention of puerperal sepsis, in a selected hospital, with a view to develop an information booklet. It was conducted at selected hospitals in Pondicherry among 100 postnatal mothers selected by using non probability purposive sampling and who met the inclusion criteria. The objective was to assess the existing level of knowledge and practice of postnatal mothers, to correlate the level of knowledge and practice and to associate the level of knowledge with selected demographic variables. Quantitative exploratory approach was used in the study with non experimental descriptive survey design. The conceptual model used is Becker's health Belief Model. To collect the data, structured knowledge questionnaire was given to the mothers and a structured interview schedule was conducted to assess the level of practice of postnatal mothers. The statistical analysis shows that the mothers had moderate knowledge with adequate practices. This study finding revealed that there is zero correlation existing between the knowledge and practice scores.