Assessment of Pregnant Women knowledge and attitude towards Umbilical Cord Banking and Stem Cell.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Maternal and Newborn Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing- Cairo University, Egypt.

2 Department of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Bisha, Saudia Arabia & Department of pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing Sciences, University of Khartoum, Sudan.

3 Maternal and Newborn Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Beni-Suef University, Egypt

Abstract

Background:  Nowadays, the collection of stem cells from the blood of the umbilical cord is one of the most important topics of health sciences and new technology. However, cord blood is now considered a rich source of adult stem cells that can be used to treat many conditions and diseases. It is still a controversial topic. The current study aims to assess pregnant women's knowledge and attitude toward umbilical cord banking and stem cell. Research design: Descriptive exploratory research design was adopted to achieve the aim of the study. Setting: The study was conducted at the obstetrics &gynecology outpatient clinic at Beni-Suef University hospital in Egypt. Subjects: A convenient sample of 200 pregnant women was recruited. Tools of data collection: three tools were used for this study (1) Maternal structured interviewing questionnaire and (2) knowledge assessment questionnaire and (3) attitude assessment questionnaire. Results: It was found that 42.5% had an average level of knowledge regarding cord blood banking and stem cell with the negative attitude (67%) with no statistically significant difference (p >0.05). Besides, the sources of information were social media followed by nurses/ midwives. Conclusion: The present study concluded that despite nearly half of the pregnant women had average level knowledge but the majority of them had a negative attitude toward umbilical cord blood banking and stem cell. Recommendations: adequately planned in-service training programs related to cord blood collection and stem cells established to distribute among the pregnant women who attending the antenatal clinics.

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