Antenatal care: assessing Zambian midwives' knowledge and skills

Antenatal care refers to the assessment and care of pregnant women. In southern Zambia, the high number of maternal deaths related to pregnancy complications could be prevented by high quality antenatal care. To explore midwives' knowledge of antenatal care and assess their skill levels. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2016 and February 2017 with 89 midwives. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data test associations between variables. Knowledge levels were high, but 61.8% of respondents did not have the required clinical skills when observed. Overall, 70% of respondents had received supervision in the past 6 months before data collection. Knowledge levels of midwives were high compared to the skills levels. Intensive, onsite, supportive mentorship and supervision is recommended to improve midwives knowledge and skills in antenatal care.