Impact of perceived social support on prenatal outcome among pregnant women

Nigeria’s mortality ranks 14th in the world. Prenatal outcomes such as preterm birth, birth weight and Apgar score are some of the leading causes of prenatal morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa. It is against this backdrop that this study examined the impact of social support on birth outcomes among pregnant women in Eku Baptist Hospital, Delta State. The study was anchored on survey and observational research designs. Primary and secondary data sources were used. The study population was pregnant women in labour. A census of 161 pregnant women who registered at the health facility was taken. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were used in the study. The study revealed that 23.5% of women with low perceived social support delivered babies with a low birth weight compared to only 5.5% of women who had strong perceived social support. This difference was statistically significant with a p-value of 0.003. Again, 88.2% compared to 72.5% had normal birth weight babies for women with strong social support and weak social support respectively and the differences in birth weight were statistically significant with P= 0.003. Also, 15.7% of women with poor social support had preterm babies compared to 10.9% of women with strong social support. The proportion of babies with neonatal Apgar scores less than 7 born to women who had weak/poor perceived social support (31.4%) was higher than that in women who had strong perceived social support (13.6%) and the relationship was statistically significant with p-value=0.008). The result of the study showed a statistically significant association between perceived social support and neonatal Apgar scores. The regression coefficient R of 0.166 however, shows a low predictive power. Based on the findings of the study, it is suggested that pregnant women should be given emotional, instrumental, informational and appraisal support to achieve better prenatal outcomes.