The Influence of Educational, Environmental and Social Factors in the Decision to Attend Prenatal Lectures among Pregnant Women in Romania.

Prenatal and postnatal education is an essential compound of prenatal care that prepares and facilitates the acquisition of women's skills, necessary for positive experiences during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal period. We conducted a prospective study that included pregnant women who attended prenatal courses. They were asked to fulfil a questionnaire about course topics, utility and impact on birth preparations. The pregnant women included in this group planned to give birth at Bucur Maternity, Saint John Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. A number of 205 pregnant women answered the online questionnaire over a period of two months. Their age range was between 25 and 35 years (40.98%). Among them, 74.15% had higher education, 85.37% of them were from urban areas, 82.44% were primiparous and 63.41% intended to have natural birth. There has been a growing interest for natural birth among pregnant women in their first pregnancy (68.05%) and also for participating in pre- and postnatal education courses, which was influenced by the level of completed education (65.66% of pregnant women with higher education wanted to give birth naturally). Topics of interest for most pregnant women are mentioned too. In our study, the majority of participants were aware of the importance to get accurate information about the prenatal period, birth, childbirth and the next period, as well as the care of the new-born from specialized courses, provided by medical staff.