Effect of health care education on diet and behavior of women during puerperium

Objective To study the effects of health care education on diet and behavior among puerperal women.Methods A total of 800 healthy pregnant women with prenatal health care card at the third trimester(over 37 weeks of pregnancy) were selected from communities of Yinchuan city and rural areas of Haiyuan county.During prenatal and postnatal hospitalization,the wome in intervention group received various nutrition and health care education and those in the control group received only routine health care.Results The nutrition and health knowledge of the intervention group increased significantly.For urban and rural women in intervention group,49.5% and 50.0% realized that chicken meat is more nutrient than chicken broth,and 93.44% and 71.21% were aware of opening window during puerium.The rates of bathing and washing hair among the wome in intervention group were significantly higher than those of women in the control group(P＜0.01).Prevalences of constipation,hemorrhoids,and low back pain among the women in intervention group were 18.03%,11.48%,and 21.31%,which were significantly lower than those of in the control group.Conclusion Proper nutrition education could increase nutrition and health care knowledge and improve dietary behaviors and health status of the women during puerperium.