Advancing the safe motherhood initiative

A qualitative and sentiment analysis of local physician’s perspectives on antibiotic self-medication during pregnancy in a low- and middle-income country

Dados Bibliográficos

ID19594848
AutoresKanayo Umeh (0000-0002-1519-4237, Liverpool John Moores University, autor correspondente), SE Adaji (Public Health England, autor correspondente), M Sacks (0000-0002-6917-8398, Liverpool John Moores University, autor correspondente), George Uchenna Eleje (0000-0002-0390-2152, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, autor correspondente), E O Umeh, EO Umeh (Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, autor correspondente), S Ushie, S N Ushie (Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, autor correspondente), Chigozie Geoffrey Okafor (0000-0003-4458-8216, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, autor correspondente), Charlotte Blanche Oguejiofor (0000-0003-2925-1690, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, autor correspondente), U Bawa (Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, autor correspondente), S Bature (Kaduna State University, autor correspondente), Nana Hawwa Madugu (0000-0002-8832-4215, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, autor correspondente), Rajbir Singh (0000-0002-2307-2360, Liverpool John Moores University, autor correspondente), H Karuppuchamy (Liverpool John Moores University, autor correspondente)
EditoresFerdinand C Mukumbang (0000-0003-1441-2172)
Ano2025
Volume5
Fascículo9
Páginase0004794
Data de publicação2025-09-12
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPLOS Global Public Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2767-3375 • E-ISSN: 2767-3375
EditoraPublic Library of Science (PLoS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1371/journal.pgph.0004794
PMID40938841
OpenAlexW4414161375
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas85

Although the Safe Motherhood Initiative is currently a global priority, the implications of maternal self-medication for meeting Safe Motherhood and Sustainable Development Goal 3 objectives in low- and middle-income countries has yet to be addressed. Although local medical doctors are an influential stakeholder group, able to determine health policy, how they view and feel about the problem of antimicrobial self-medication during pregnancy is not well understood. Thus, this study explores physicians’ views and sentiments regarding antibiotic self-medication in pregnant women from a West African country. We used mixed qualitative and quantitative analytic approaches. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 medical doctors working in three tertiary hospitals. Thematic analysis was employed to identify key perspectives, while sentiment analysis was used to determine the emotional tone, based on an open-source pre-trained machine learning model for natural language processing. Several checks for methodological rigour were performed, including reviewing records of over 800 email conversations, and conducting respondent validation. Seven distinct themes emerged depicting views on antimicrobial treatment (e.g., easy availability of antibiotics), patient behaviour (e.g., use of medicinal herbs) and policy guidelines on antibiotics stewardship (lack of clear protocols). The prevailing sentiment portrayed a predominantly neutral demeanour towards antibiotic self-medication during pregnancy (χ2 (1, N = 1484) = 1314.858, p p p

Antimicrobial stewardship · Focus group · Pregnancy · Qualitative research · Respondent · Rigour · Stakeholder · Thematic analysis · Antibiotic Use and Resistance · Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Medicine