Self-Medication among Pregnant Women Attending Manhyia Government Hospital

Background: A major determinant to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (3) is by reducing maternal mortality. Self-medication is one of the many health seeking behaviour that endangers the life of the pregnant woman and impedes maternal health. Methods: The study was conducted to determine the knowledge and practices of self –medication among pregnant women attending Manhyia Government Hospital. The study was a descriptive cross -sectional study. A structured questionnaire was used and 70 pregnant women were selected using the convenience sampling technique. Results: The findings revealed that: treating minor illness (25%) lack of time to consult health professional (15%) and emergency use and cultural belief in efficacy of traditional methods (14%) were some of the main factors that influenced respondents to self- medicate. Even though most respondents (59%) were aware of the effects of self-medication, 41% of the respondents indicated that self-medication could not cause any effect to both mother and fetus. Conclusion: The study suggests that the main factors informing the practice of self-medication were to treat minor illness in pregnancy, to avoid long hours spent in the health facility, for emergency use. Drugs mostly used for such purposes included analgesics and herbal drugs. The study recommends nurses and midwives to enforce health education on the effects of self-medication during antenatal.