09 Effectiveness of Culturally Appropriate Antenatal Education Packages to Improve Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Speaker:- Zeenat Moromoke Abdulwahab

Facilitator:- Nancy Geregl Kerenga

Abstract:- Background: Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPCR) remains an essential part of maternal survival plans in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Suboptimal antenatal education contributes to a significant delay in the recognition of obstetric danger signs and late care-seeking. Culturally tailored antenatal education packages have been increasingly used to improve BPCR, but there has been no systematic synthesis of evidence on their use across LMICs. Objective: To synthesise the evidence of the effectiveness of culturally appropriate antenatal education interventions on BPCR outcomes in pregnant women in LMICs.

Methods: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and Google Scholar between 2015-2025. Eleven studies were found eligible, which included quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, and cohort studies undertaken in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Cameroon, Kenya, and Bangladesh. Data were extracted and appraised through the use of JBI tools. A narrative synthesis was implemented.

Results: In the total of 11 studies, the effect of culturally appropriate antenatal education had a significant effect on knowledge of danger signs, birth preparedness, institutional delivery, and readiness for complications. Effect sizes ranged from moderate to substantial as improvements in BPCR ranged between 25% and 95%, improvement in knowledge by mobile-based education was found to be 85% and BPCR by 90% and improvements in institutional delivery from 53.5% to 93.5% by goal-oriented education. Strong predictors were early ANC, partner involvement, quality of counselling and frequency of attendance to ANC.

Conclusion: Culturally tailored antenatal education packages have consistent beneficial effects on BPCR in LMICs. Culturally tailored antenatal education

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