International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 13, Issue 2 (February 2026), Pages: 124-133

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 Original Research Paper

Reducing maternal morbidity from a nursing perspective: Effect of cardiovascular disease awareness during pregnancy

 Author(s): 

 Fatma Zaghloul Mahmoud 1, 2, Mohammed Elsayed Zaky 3, 4, *, Ebtesam Abdel Nabi Abdel Hamid 2, Shereen Hussein Deep 5, Fatma Ali Oraby 6, Shimaa Magdy Farghaly 3, 4, Afaf Mohamed Emam 7, Wafa Eid Alshatri 8, Naglaa Hassan AbuElZahab 1, Omnya Mustafa Ali Mohamed 9, Mohammed Ali Pessa 10, Amira Abd El-Azeem Mohamed Yossif 8, Sabah Ahmed Ammar Mohamed 8, 11, Wafaa Mohamed Amer Mahmoud 8, Basma Said Mahmoud Elgamasy 2

 Affiliation(s):

 1Maternal and Child Health Department, College of Nursing, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
 2Maternal and Newborn Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
 3Medical Surgical Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
 4Medical Surgical Nursing Department, College of Nursing, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
 5Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
 6Faculty of Nursing, Misr University for Science and Technology, 6th October City, Egypt
 7Faculty of Nursing, Benha University, Banha, Egypt
 8Medical Surgical Nursing Department, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
 9Maternity and Child Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
 10Faculty of Nursing, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia
 11Department of Nursing Administration, College of Nursing, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia

 Full text

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 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4244-1459

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2026.02.013

 Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in low-resource settings. This study evaluated the effect of a structured CVD awareness program on knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among pregnant women using a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design. A purposive sample of 100 pregnant women attending the obstetrics and gynecology units at Benha University Hospital, Egypt, was divided into an intervention group (n = 50) and a comparison group (n = 50). The intervention group received a structured educational program on CVD prevention and management, while the comparison group received routine antenatal care. Data were collected using a modified KAP questionnaire before and after the intervention, and paired t-tests and chi-square tests were used for analysis. The intervention group showed significant improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and practices, with mean scores increasing from 69.1 to 83.9, 72.3 to 85.4, and 63.5 to 77.2, respectively (p < 0.001), while no significant changes were observed in the comparison group. These findings support integrating CVD education into antenatal care.

 © 2026 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Cardiovascular disease, Pregnancy, Maternal health, Awareness program, Knowledge-attitude-practice

 Article history

 Received 2 September 2025, Received in revised form 11 January 2026, Accepted 8 February 2026

 Acknowledgment

The authors extend their appreciation to the obstetrics and gynecology department at Benha University ‎Hospital for facilitating this research and to all study participants for their valuable contributions. Special ‎thanks to the nurse educators involved in delivering the educational sessions. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations:

The study was approved by the ethics committee at the Faculty of Nursing, Benha University (IRB number: REC-OBSN-P24). Participants received a thorough explanation of the study's purpose, and informed written consent was obtained before enrolment. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The Participants were informed of their right to withdraw at any time without affecting the care they received. Confidentiality was maintained by anonymizing responses and securely storing all collected data. 

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Mahmoud FZ, Zaky ME, Hamid EANA, Deep SH, Oraby FA, Farghaly SM, Emam AM, Alshatri WE, AbuElZahab NH, Mohamed OMA, Pessa MA, Yossif AAEM, Mohamed SAA, Mahmoud WMA, and Elgamasy BSM (2026). Reducing maternal morbidity from a nursing perspective: Effect of cardiovascular disease awareness during pregnancy. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 13(2): 124-133

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 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2   Table 3   Table 4  Table 5  Table 6  Table 7  

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