Abstract

Intra uterine fetal death is a catastrophic experience for the mother and family. Studies showed that the incidence ranges from 20 to 32 per live birth. 20% of the cases had unidentified risk factors .Maternal perception of fetal movement is regarded as manifestation of fetal well being. Incidence of still birth is 60 times higher in pregnencies reported with decreased fetal movements. Maternal awareness of fetal perception is a simple self screening technique aids in early identification and associated with improved perinatal outcome. In this context a cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among 60 antenatal women attending an OPD with the objective to assess the knowledge regarding fetal movement monitoring. Structured questionnaire was administered to the subjects selected by simple random sampling. Majority of them (37%) were in the age group of 23to 27 yrs.50% of them were with period of gestation of 36-40 weeks and majority (42%) had completed their secondary level of education. Even though 17% and 42% of subjects possessed good and average knowledge respectively 33% of the antenatal women had poor knowledge regarding fetal movement monitoring. Study reveals the need of imparting knowledge regarding fetal movement monitoring among antenatal women so as to improve the perinatal outcome.

Keyword: Intrauterine fetal death, fetal movement monitoring, knowledge, maternal perception.