Health information needs of pregnant women: information sources, motives and barriers.

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women should be provided with relevant and useful information to manage this specific period of their lives. Assessing information needs of this group is a prerequisite for providing this information.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the information needs of pregnant women during their pregnancy and childbirth.

METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted on the pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics and obstetricians/gynaecologists' offices in Kerman, Iran, in 2015. Data were collected using a self-administered, valid and reliable questionnaire. A total of 400 women participated in the study.

FINDINGS: Most pregnant women needed information about care of the foetus (n = 344, 86%), physical and psychological complications after delivery (n = 333, 83%), development and growth of the foetus (n = 330, 82.5%), pregnancy nutrition (n = 327, 82%) and special tests during pregnancy (n = 326, 81.5%). They mostly (n = 195, 49%) looked for information when they were suffering from a disease or pregnancy complications.

CONCLUSIONS: As pregnant women need extensive information to be able to take care of themselves and their babies, their information needs should be identified and taken into consideration when planning educational programmes for this group of women.