EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES REGARDING THE HIV/AIDS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN LADY GOSHEN HOSPITAL, MANGALORE - KARNATAKA

In India, several thousand HIV-infected babies are expected to be born everyyear.((i)) MATERIALS & METHODS: The present study is hospital based intervention study conducted in Government Lady Goshen Hospital, Mangalore. Study subjects were 100 in number recruited from women attending antenatal clinic, by random selection. They were initially assessed for KAP regarding HIV/AIDS by intervening using the interview schedule. After the assessment the participants were educated about HIV/AIDS by trained counselors using visual aids in local language then same KAP schedule was utilized to find out the effectiveness of the teaching programme. This was done as daily basis for 3 pregnant women on all working days. Observations revealed that level of knowledge was significantly higher in pregnant women from upper income group than low income group (P < 0.05) and higher education than those who dint study (P <0.05). ((iv)) In pre-test session majority of women knew about HIV i.e. 95(95.00%), but were unaware whether HIV positive mother can transmit infection to her baby 55(55.00%). CONCLUSION: The level of awareness and knowledge of HIV/AIDS among pregnant women attending our antenatal clinics seems to be superficial; more education and knowledge about mother-to-child transmission are needed in India ((v)).