Abstract
The purpose of this study was to survey the degree of awareness and practice concerning prenatal care among Korean women. In this study, 626women in Seoul, Sungnam City, and Yangju Kun were randomly selected to be given a questionare that was formulated by the researcher. The statistical analysis of the data was obtained by percentage scores and $X^2$ scores on each item by age, educational background, and regional areas. The general out come of the study were as follows. A. The Practice of Prenatal Care 1. Physical Activities: Concerning the hard work, about a half of the women took care of it by themselves, and the others treated it with help. Also it was found that they tried to reduce the amount of travel as much as possible during pregnancy. 2. Dietary Intake: It was revealed that no significant change were observed before and during pregnancy. 3. Drugs: It was revealed that they tried to avoid drugs as much as possible during pregnancy. 4. Emotion: About a half of the women said that the family atmosphere did not change before and during pregnancy. The others said it had improved after pregnancy. In their spare time, most pregnant women rested in bed, read books, and listened to music. 5. Husband's Support: Most of the women expressed that they needed thief-husband's support absolutely, especially with hard work. They moderated the sexual activities when they found that they were pregnant. B. Degree of awareness for Prenatal Care 1. Perception of Prenatal Care: Most women heard about prenatal care at least one time through family, friend, or mass-media. 2. Necessity of Prenatal Care: Most women recognized the necessity of prenatal care, and they thought that the relaxation of body and mind was important during pregnancy. 3. Influence of Prenatal Care: It was revealed that most women recognized the positive influence of prenatal care to the neonate. 4. Practice of Prenatal Care: It shown that the most of pregnant women took serious interest in prenatal care and they tended to be careful during pregnancy. Generally speaking, the difference in educational background seemed to affect most to the pregnant women's awareness and practice of prenatal care: the higher the educational achievement, the more cautious about the prenatal care. The difference in region seemed to affect considerably in most aspects of practice: women in urban areas preceeded the rural women in prenatal care. The age difference seemed to affect least in their prenatal care except the younger generation took more care in avoiding the use of drugs.