Social support, self-care agency and self-care behaviors among pregnant women in Thai Binh, Vietnam: A cross-sectional analysis.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the association between social support and self-care agency with maternal health behaviors among pregnant women in Thai Binh, Vietnam.

STUDY

DESIGN

This study employed a cross-sectional design with self-reported data from pregnant women.

METHODS

The study was conducted among 812 pregnant women. Quantitative data were collected using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Appraisal of Self-Care Agency - Revised scale, alongside questions regarding self-care behaviors (diet, exercise and micronutrient supplement intake). Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) of self-care agency (overall and three subcategories: having power, and developing power, and lacking power) and self-care behaviors in pregnancy as outcomes of social support (overall, from spouse, family or friends), adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and pregnancy-related covariates.

RESULTS

Overall social support, social support from spouse, family or friends were positively associated with the overall and all three subcategories of self-care agency (ORs from 1.53 to 2.53). Overall social support and social support from friends were negatively associated with self-care behaviors related to diet (OR = 0.84; 95%CI:0.76-0.94; and OR = 0.80; 95%CI: 0.72-0.90, respectively). Overall social support and social support from spouses were positively associated with micronutrient supplement intake (OR = 1.33; 95%CI: 1.04-1.72; and OR = 1.57; 95%CI: 1.14-2.17, respectively), while social support from spouses may influence exercise (OR = 1.14; 95%CI: 0.99-1.32). Of the women, 97.5% reported a confidant to be one of their children.

CONCLUSIONS

Social support appears to influence self-care agency and behaviors of pregnant women though their adherence to healthy diet is more complex.