%0 Journal Article
%T Medical students¡¯ and public obstetric health care workers¡¯ knowledge of the Saving Mothers campaign
%A Almereau Prollius
%A Gina Joubert
%A Adelien du Toit
%A Susan Joubert
%J African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine
%D 2011
%I 
%R 10.4102/phcfm.v3i1.184
%X Maternal mortality in South Africa has been receiving attention since it became notifiable in 1997. The ¡¯big five¡¯ causes of maternal mortality are non-pregnancy-related infections (mainly HIV), complications of hypertension during pregnancy, obstetric haemorrhage, pregnancyrelated sepsis and pre-existing medical conditions. In many cases in which women die during pregnancy or childbirth, avoidable health worker-related factors can be identified. This study assessed the knowledge of different levels of medical students and health care workers at public health obstetric facilities in Bloemfontein concerning the Saving Mothers campaign.The self-administered, test-like questionnaire was completed by senior medical students,interns and obstetric personnel (nurses or midwives). Interns obtained the highest median score (48%) for the questionnaire, while nurses obtained a median score of 31%. The results strongly suggest that training specific to the Saving Mothers campaign is urgently required across all levels of health care personnel. R¨¦sum¨¦ Depuis 1997, la mortalit¨¦ maternelle est devenue ¨¤ d¨¦claration obligatoire en Afrique du Sud; ce qui a permis d¡¯ attirer plus d¡¯ attention sur cet fl¨¦au. Les big five causes de mortalit¨¦ maternelle sont les infections non li¨¦ ¨¤ la grossesse (principalement le VIH/SIDA), les maladies survenant au cours de la grossesse telles que l'hypertension art¨¦rielle, l'h¨¦morragie, et la septic¨¦mie, et les pathologies chroniques persistantes. Dans de nombreux cas de mortalit¨¦ maternelle ou infantile, des facteurs rem¨¦diables et associ¨¦s au personnel de sant¨¦ peuvent ¨ºtre identifi¨¦s. Cette ¨¦tude a ¨¦valu¨¦ les connaissances des ¨¦tudiants en m¨¦decine et des professionnels de sant¨¦ publique des maternit¨¦s de Bloemfontein sur la ¡®Saving Mothers campaign. Pour cette ¨¦tude, un questionnaire ¨¦tait rempli par des ¨¦tudiants en m¨¦decine en fin de cycle, des internes, des infirmi¨¨res et des sages-femmes. Les internes avaient obtenu le meilleur score m¨¦dian (48%) de connaissance sur le sujet ¨¦tudi¨¦, alors que les infirmi¨¨res n¡¯obtenaient que 31%. Les r¨¦sultats montrent une urgente n¨¦cessit¨¦ de formation sp¨¦ciale li¨¦ au ¡®Saving Mothers campaign¡® le pour le personnel de sant¨¦ ¨¤ tous les niveaux. How to cite this article: Prollius A, Joubert G, Du Toit A, Joubert S, Lourens T, Steenkamp JJ. Medical students¡¯ and public obstetric health care workers¡¯ knowledge of the Saving Mothers campaign.Afr J Prm Health Care Fam Med. 2011;3(1), Art. #184, 3 pages. doi:10.4102/phcfm.v3i1.184
%K Knowledge
%K maternal health
%K medical students
%K public health
%K Saving Mothers
%U http://www.phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/184