Published Paper Details:

The literature review was conducted with the aim to review the knowledge among antenatal women regarding minor ailments in pregnancy. Minor ailments during pregnancy do not endanger the life of a woman but if left unattended can lead to serious complications. Studies on minor acute illness during pregnancy suggest that despite being non life threatening, the high prevalence of these conditions have a major effect on productivity and may have profound impact on the lives of pregnant women and their families. According to WHO 5,85,000 women die each year from pregnancy related causes, 99%of whom are from developing countries. Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy affects approximately 75% pregnancies. Constipation and heartburn are commonly gastrointestinal complaints during pregnancy. Constipation occurs in 11-38% of pregnant women[Vazquez 2008]. The findings of various studies revealed that majority of the pregnant women had average or inadequate knowledge regarding minor disorders of pregnancy and their management and most of them even require hospitalization to get the condition treated. Hence, awareness programme on management of minor ailments in pregnancy is a pre-requisite of ante-natal care. Also the surveillance of minor ailments during pregnancy is virtually nonexistent in developing countries. The lack of reliable data impedes proper assessment of the disease burden and is a barrier to effective planning of control and preventive activities. Thus, it is also concluded that studies related to management of minor ailments of pregnancy should be conducted on a wider scale so that these minor disorders could not be troublesome on a day-to-day basis. Nevertheless, these minor ailments should be considerably improved by offering a proper explanation and with simple treatments.