Knowledge and Utilisation of Anti-Shock Garment Among Midwives of Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

Background and Aim: Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal mortality, yet it is one of the few obstetric complications, with proven and effective interventions. Non-Pneumatic Anti Shock Garment (NASG) is a high-quality, simple technology and low-cost first-aid device that reverses hypovolemic shock. While evidence has shown that this simple technology is effective in reducing PPH, the level of knowledge and utilisation is unclear. This underscored the need to assess the knowledge and utilisation of the NASG as a measure of controlling postpartum haemorrhage in Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan. Methods: This study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design and questionnaires were used to gather data from the midwives. The convenience sampling technique was used to recruit one hundred and forty-four (144) midwives into the study. Data were analysed using version 21.0 of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) using Chi-square. Results: The findings of this study revealed that although 97.9% of participants responded that they had seen NASG before, only about half (47.1%) could describe what it looked like. While 96.4% claimed that they knew how to use the NASG, only 73.7% of them actually use it each time there was PPH. No significant association was found between knowledge and utilisation of the equipment (p=.298). Factors associated with non-usage include non-availability, inexperience, lack of skilled personnel, and poor attitude. Conclusion: There was a good level of utilisation of the Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment for the management of postpartum haemorrhage, but only a few of the midwives were able to correctly describe it and not all were using it. Hence, refresher courses are hereby advocated to further improve NASG usage.