Perceptions of the causes of malaria and of its complications,treatment and prevention among midwives and pregnant women of Eastern Sudan

Background Malaria infection during pregnancy is a big burden in Sudan and has many adverse effects on both mother and fetus. There are no data concerning the local socio-cultural knowledge of malaria, its complications and prevention during pregnancy. Aim This study was conducted to assess the perceptions of the causes of malaria, its complications, treatment and prevention among midwives and pregnant women of Eastern Sudan so as to provide policy makers and malaria programme managers with information needed to improve the design of malaria control. Subject and methods Interviews were conducted with 87 midwives and 168 pregnant women. Results More than three-quarters (78.2%) of the midwives and (82.7%) pregnant women perceived that mosquitoes were the transmitters of malaria. The coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) was 65.5% among the interviewed pregnant women. There was poor knowledge about the complications of malaria during pregnancy and the effect of malaria treatment on the fetus among the interviewed midwives and pregnant women. More than 60% of the midwives (n = 59, 67.8%) and almost all of the pregnant women (n = 162, 96.4%) had no knowledge about intermittent preventive treatment (IPT). Conclusion Thus, in spite of good knowledge about symptoms of malaria during pregnancy, there was a lack of perception of prevention and the safety of IPT.