Evaluation of knowledge and Attitude of Pregnant Saudi Women toward Cord Blood Donation

Abstract

Background: Cord blood contains all the normal elements of blood - red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. But it is also rich in hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells, similar to those found in bone marrow. This is why cord blood can be used for transplantation as an alternative to bone marrow. Aim: the aim of this study was to assess and evaluate the knowledge and the attitude of the Saudi married and pregnant women from 18 to 45 years toward umbilical cord blood donation. Method: A quantitative descriptive cross sectional research design was used for the current study. The setting was obstetrics and gynecology clinic at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City. The sample included 300 subjects. Self-administered structured interviewing questionnaire was used as tool for data collection. Results: About half of the women (43.1%) had poor total knowledge score. Only 18% had good total knowledge score.  However the women tend to have good attitude (49.6%) regarding cord blood donation. There was a strong statistically significant positive relationship between total knowledge score and the total attitude score (p = 0.000). Conclusion: Although the majority of the women had either fair or poor knowledge but the good percentage of women had good attitude toward cord blood donation. This finding could serve as a base for antenatal educational program for the pregnant women to raise their awareness about cord blood donation