INTER-RELATIONSHIPS OF PREGNANT WOMEN’S VIEWS, BELIEFS AND OPINIONS ABOUT COVID-19 AND THEIR SELF-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR THE PANDEMIC IN SOUTH-SOUTH NIGERIA

Abstract

Self-management strategies targeted toward Covid-19 pandemic are dependent on one’s perception and convinction about existence of the disease. The study explored the inter-relationships of pregnant women’s views, beliefs and opinions about COVID-19 and their self-management strategies for the pandemic in South-South Nigeria. The Cross-Sectional research design study adopted multistage sampling technique in selecting sample size of 144 pregnant women from the primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities in Edo State, South-South Nigeria. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire on Pregnant Women’s perception and the precautionary measures they Adopt for corona-virus pandemic (QPWPPMCP). Validity and reliability of the instrument were established, and the cronbach alpha yielded coefficient of 0.711. Data collected were analysed using frequencies, percentages, mean and Spearman Rank Order correlation. The result showed significant relationships between View about Covid-19 and Vaccination (rho = 0.253, p-value = 0.002), belief about the cause of Covid-19 and hygienic measures (rho = 0.207, p-value = 0.013), Opinion about outcome of Covid-19 and practice of social distancing (rho = -0.176, p-value = 0.034), restriction of movement and social distancing (rho = 0.262, p-value = 0.002). Pregnant women should be advised to comply with all the preventive measures for COVID-19 because the measures are inter-related to each other