UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF NURSING SCIENCES

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN

NURSING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

TOPIC

ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF

MAINTAINING OPTIMAL BODY WEIGHT DURING PREGNANCY AMONG

WOMEN ATTENDING MBAGATHI DISRICT HOSPITAL ANTENATAL

CLINIC.

BY

KABATA JOSEPH NDUNG'U

REG NO: H32/2608/03

SUPERVISOR

MRSOYIEKE

DECLARATION

I Ndung'u Joseph Kabata hereby declare that this is my original work unless otherwise

stated and have not been presented for a degree award in any other institution.

~\MMAJlSIGNED 0-:- . DATE~~.:C~r ..3~1 .

NDUNG'U JOSEPH KABAT A

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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

This research proposal has been submitted for the award of degree of Bachelor of Science::~:.4~.~e.a~p~v.~ofmysupervisor as University ofNmr:~::u~Niwr................................. {~(Ol

~ ~s. ()yieke

Lecturer, University of Nairobi,

School of Nursing Sciences.

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ABBREVIATIONS

AMREF: AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION

BSc. N: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING

BMI: BODY MASS INDEX

LBW: LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

PROM: PREMATURE RAPTURE OF MAMBRANES

UTI: URINARY TRACT INFECTION

UNICEF: UNITED NATION

UNFPA: UNITED NATION POPULATION FUND

WHO: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

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TERMS OF DEFINATION

LOW BIRTH WEIGHT: Any baby who is born with weight below 2500gms.

PRE-TERM BABY: Any baby born before 37 completed weeks of gestation.

PRE-ECLAMPSIA: Diastolic pressure of 90mmHg and above or a by lSmmHgwith proteniuria, Edema or both occurring after twenty weeks gestation.

INTRA-UTERINE GROWTH RETARDATION: occurs when there is normal fetalgrowth potential during 1st and 2nd trimester, during the course of pregnancy growthbecomes severely reduced by adverse extra-fetal and intra-fetal factors.

PERI-NATAL: Period before pregnancy during and shortly after pregnancy

ANTE-NATAL CARE: health care given to a pregnant woman the time she realizes sheis pregnant until Baby is born

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This is research study whose main objective is to establish the level of knowledge on the

importance of maintaining optimal body weight during pregnancy, among women

attending antenatal clinic in Mbagathi District Hospital.

The study will be carried out in Mbagathi District Hospital. A total of 384 research

subjects will be sampled randomly. This will be a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data

will be collected by use of a semi-structured questionnaire. The major components of the

tool are demographic data, level of knowledge, and source of knowledge. Four BSc.N

students will be selected to assist in the study. They will be trained on implementation of

the tool.

Pre-testing of the tool will be done in Kibera AMREF antenatal clinic.

Data will be collected and stored in computer

Data analysis will be done with the use of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS)

The findings of the study will be used to offer recommendations on how knowledge on

importance of maintaining optimal body weight during pregnancy can be improved. It

will take approximately twenty weeks to finish the study and a budget of about

192,698ksh.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION .ii

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL. .iii

ABBREVIATOIONS .iv

DEFINATION OF TERMS v

EXECUTIVE SUMMARy vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....•................•...••.•.••.•.•..•..•....••.....•...........................• 1

1.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1

1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT 1

1.2 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDy 2

1.3 HYPOTHESIS .3

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .3

1.5 OBJECTIVES .3

1.5.1 BROAD OBJECTIVES 3

1.5.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES .3

1.6 EXPECTED BENEFITS .4

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.0 INTRODUCTION 5

2.1 PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND UNDERWEGHT 6

2.2 COMPLICATIONS OF OVERWEIGHT AND UNDERWEIGHT 7

2.3 PREVENTION OF ABNORMAL WEIGHT LEVEL DURING PREGNANCy 8

CHAPTER THHREE: METHODS AND MATERIALS l1

3.0 STUDY DESIGH 11

3.11 INDEPENDENT VARIABLES 11

3.12 DEPENDENT VARIABLES 11

3.13 INTERVEING FACTORS 11

3.2 STUDY AREA 12

3.3 TARGET POPULATION 12

3.4 SAMPLING 12

3.4.1 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION 12

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3.4.2 INCLUSION CRITERIA 13

3.4.3 EXCLUSION CRITERIA 13

3.5 STUDY TOOL 13

3.6 PRE TESTING THE TOOL 14

3.7 STUDY METHODOLOGy 14

3.8 DATA CLEANING 14

3.9 CONTROL OF BIASES AND ERRORS 14

3.10 DATA ENTRY ANDANALYSIS 14

3.11 REPORTING AND DISSEMINATION OF DATA 15

3.12 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 15

3.13 STUDY LIMITATOINS 15

3.14 PLAN OF ACTIVITIES 16

3.15 GHANT CHART 17

3.16 BUDGEITING 18

REFERENCES 19

APPENDIX 1 LEITER SEEKING AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH 21

APPENDIX 2 LEITER SEEKING AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH 22

APPENDIX 3 LEITER SEEKING AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT RESEARCH 23

APPENDIX 4 LEITER SEEKING AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT PILOT STUDy 24

APPENDIX 5 CONSENT FORM 25

APPENDIX 6 QUESTIONNAIRE 26

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