Knowledge and practice for preventing Hepatitis B among pregnant women at three large-hospitals in the South, Vietnam, 2019-2020

Abstract

HBV infection among pregnant women poses a great concern in Vietnam since 90% of Vietnamese HBV cases were infected
through maternal transmission. This study aims to describe the knowledge and practice of preventing hepatitis B infection of women with hepatitis B infection during pregnancy in the Southern region of Vietnam from 2019 to 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study on 216 pregnant women visiting at three hospitals in the South. The study results showed that only 34% of pregnant women had heard and knew of hepatitis B virus previously, 45.5% did not know the number of hepatitis B vaccine doses to be vaccinated for their babies. More than 85% had never been treated for hepatitis B before. We found that the knowledge and practice of hepatitis B prevention in pregnant women was not sufcient, therefore it could increase the HBV infection rate among their children. It is necessary to enhance knowledge and practice on the prevention and risk of HBV transmission among pregnant women in order to better control HBV infection among their children and the community.