Perspectives of Italian pregnant women on pregnancy examinations and pregnancy care

Airn: Assessing awareness of Italian low-risk pregnant patients on low-risk pregnancy care and what do they feel about their own pregnancy Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 382 low-risk pregnant women. This questionnaire assessed generai knowledge of low-risk pregnancy, low-risk pregnancy care, and how much patients rated ten topics of low-risk pregnancy care. It would be expected that the knowledge of each topic would associates with the patient's perceived importance of that topic. Resulis: Poor knowledge of pregnancy care was proven. Patients seem to incorrectly overrate vaginal examinations and obstetric and gynecologist-led care, whi!e they attribute appropriate importance to midwife-led care. The more exami-nations performed (vaginal examinations, sonographic checks, cardiotocographies), the higher their rating. Conclusions: In Italy, expectations of pregnant women about their own pregnancy are incorrectly trusted in the obstetrics and gynecologists. Both poor knowledge of pregnancy care and cultural perspectives on the birth process amongst Italian people explain the finding. Referring low-risk pregnant women to midwivcs would help them to rate more the care than the caregiver. (www.actabiomedica.it)