Assessment of pre-eclampsia screening services during antenatal care visits at Bungoma County Referral Hospital, Kenya

Abstract

Background: Preeclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E) are major contributors to maternal and neonatal deaths in developing countries, associated with 10–15% of direct maternal deaths and nearly a quarter of stillbirths and newborn deaths, many of which are preventable with improved care.Effective screening for pre-eclampsia services is an excellent way of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity.The main objective of this study was to determine the availability preeclampsia screening services that are offered to the pregnant women across the antenatal visits in Bungoma County Referral Hospital.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 282 stratified and randomly selected mothers attending ANC services.Data was collected using a pre-tested semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire. All the analysis was done using Statistical package for Social sciences (SPSS V.20)

Findings: Pre-eclampsia screening services offered included obstetric history (96%), history of twins (88.5%), chronic medical illness (94%) and pressure monitoring (99.6%). Other screening services included urinalysis (49%) and hemoglobintests (65%). Distribution of services decreased steadily from the first to the fourth visitrespectively:

Conclusion and Recommendations: Pre-eclampsia screening services are offered. However, they are not evenly distributed and they decreased progressively through the four scheduled ANC visits. There is need for continuous medical education to midwives on the need for pre-eclampsia screening through all the scheduled antenatal visits. Early antenatal attendanceis mandatory to achieve the four scheduled ANCvisits to enable effective and evenly distribution of pre-eclampsia screening service.