Knowledge of Antenatal Exercise and Its Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia

Antenatal exercise reduces many health related risks in pregnant women and their fetuses. Adequate knowledge regarding antenatal exercise is vital to practice. However, knowledge of antenatal exercise has not been studied yet in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess knowledge of antenatal exercise and its associated factors among pregnant women in Arba Minch town. Community based cross-sectional study design was conducted. Data were collected by using structured questionnaire from 422 pregnant women selected by simple random sampling technique. Sixteen questions with expected responses of “yes” or “no” were applied to examine knowledge. Descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation, frequencies, and proportions werecomputed. In multivariable logistic-regression, AOR with 95% confidence intervals were computed. The significance level was declared at p value < 0.05. Overall, 46% (95% CI, 41%-51%) of pregnant women had adequate knowledge of antenatal exercise. High school educational level [AOR= 2.45,(95%CI1.04-5.77)], monthly income < 1,347 Ethiopian birr [AOR=0.55,(95%CI 0.33-0.92)], unemployment [AOR=0.33,(95%CI 0.14-0.77)], gravida one [AOR=3.15,(95%CI 1.39-7.14)], gravida two to three [AOR=3.28,(95%CI 1.61-6.69)], four to three months of pregnancy [AOR=0.58, (95%CI 0.38-0.90)] and age < 25 years [AOR= 0.49, (95%CI 0.30-0.79)] were significantly associated with knowledge of antenatal exercise.Knowledge towards antenatal exercise in this setting found to be inadequate. Educational levels, income level, occupation status, gravidity, months of pregnancy and age were factors associated with antenatal exercise. Hence, interventions targeting to improve the income and employment status of pregnant women are recommended.