Abstract Background Postpartum maternal morbidity or mortality is one of the common unexpected outcomes of childbirth, hence postnatal care is critical to reducing it. This study assessed the parturients’ knowledge of postpartum warning signs and complications in a tertiary health facility at Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods This was a cross-sectional study among 450 parturients using a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire to assess their knowledge of postpartum warning signs and complications. Data were analysed with SPSS version 25.0 using descriptive statistics and logistic regression with level of statistically significant set at p < 0.05. Results A total of 450 parturients, with a mean age of 30.1 ± 4.9 years participated. The most common complications known among the mothers were wound infection, 132 (29.3%), infection/sepsis, 116 (25.8%), episiotomy pain, 103 (22.9%), and hypertension, 102 (22.7%). Among the 180 parturients with the knowledge of warning signs, almost all 179 (99.4%) knew one warning sign, 136 (75.6%) knew two warning signs though only 21 (11.7%) knew five warning signs. About a third, 155 (34.4%) had adequate knowledge of postpartum complications. Determinants of adequate knowledge of postpartum complications were age (Odd ratio OR = 2.37, 95% CI = 1.107–5.057), educational status (OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.208–0.650), and duration of time used to relay the information by the healthcare providers (OR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.041–0.425). Conclusions The inadequate knowledge of the postpartum mothers about postpartum warning signs and complications is a cause for concern. Maternal age, higher educational attainment, and longer counselling duration were independently associated with adequate knowledge. To improve maternal knowledge and early recognition of complications, standardized and structured postpartum counselling should be institutionalized as part of routine postnatal care.
Oni et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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