Abstract:
Maternal undernutrition is a significant nutrition problem in Tanzania. Chronic energy deficiencies, iron deficiency anaemia, iodine deficiency disorder and vitamin A deficiency are the major manifestations of maternal undernutrition. This study examined the quality of nutrition services at RCH clinics in addressing maternal undernutrition in Temeke District. A cross sectional study design, involving 100 pregnant women and 108 RCH providers from 12 selected health facilities was employed. Structured questionnaires, checklists with key informants, client exit interviews, structured observations and focus group discussions were used in data collection. SPSS software version 16 was used in data analysis. Results showed that, RCH providers had inadequate nutrition knowledge due to limited nutrition courses during nursing training and in-service training. All RCH providers advised that, nutrition knowledge is important to pregnant women hence they were responsible for its delivery. Understaffing and lack of teaching aids contributed to the failure in the delivery of quality nutrition education. Most pregnant women (81%) started attending antenatal care in the second trimester and were neither aware of nutritional needs during pregnancy nor the relationship between maternal dietary intake and birth outcomes. About 54% of pregnant women were not satisfied with antenatal services provided at the surveyed clinics. Reasons mentioned included, spending long hours at clinic, high costs of some services and inadequate number of service providers. Common foods consumed by these women were maize flour, rice, tomatoes, carrots, green vegetables and fruits, while less commonly consumed foods were legumes, sea foods, meat, milk and milk products. The overall quality of nutrition services provided at the surveyed RCH clinics was low, mainly due to inadequate nutrition knowledge among RCH providers and inadequate education tools. This study recommends a review of nursing curriculum to add more nutrition courses, conducting of regular in service nutrition training and formulation of nutrition guidelines.
