Knowledge, attitude, and perception of pregnant women toward anesthesia for cesarean section at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital

Background: Anesthesia is regarded as an integral part of cesarean section due to its elimination of pain and discomfort. Pregnant women need to have awareness of anesthesia for cesarean section. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and perception of pregnant women toward anesthesia for cesarean section. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among consenting pregnant women at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. A structured pretested questionnaire was used to obtain information from the participants. Ethical approval was obtained from the hospital ethics committee. Data obtained was analyzed using SPSS version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 2012, US). Fischer's exact test was used for categorical data and P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age ± standard deviation was 28.71 ± 5.635 years. Two hundred and thirty-two (68.8%) had knowledge of anesthesia for surgical procedures, and in up to 221 (65.5%), the anesthesia known to them was for cesarean section. Main sources of knowledge were from the clinic (195, 44.5%) and previous experience/exposure (180, 41.1%). The main anesthetic side effects were headache (24, 64.9%) and delayed recovery (11, 29.7%). Regional anesthesia was preferred (246, 73.0%) over general anesthesia (91, 27.0%) because of safety (258, 44.3%), fear of death (240, 41.2%), and the desire for being awake during the procedure (85, 14.5%). Knowledge of anesthesia was statistically associated with the age groups of the respondents (P = 0.027) and their occupation (P = 0.003). Conclusion: The study revealed high knowledge and awareness of anesthesia for cesarean section among pregnant women and regional anesthesia was preferred over general anesthesia.