Leg cramps are a very common occurrence for many women during their pregnancy. Most leg cramps are caused from the fatigue of carrying extra weight that is put on pregnant women. As the pregnant women gain more weight, leg cramps may increase .Cramps can also be aggravated by the expanding uterus putting pressure on the blood vessels that return blood from legs to heart and the nerves leading to legs. Leg cramps can occur at any time: but most-likely notice them at night or bed time. There is some speculation that too little calcium; potassium; or too muscle phosphorus can cause leg cramps .However, it is a good idea to increase calcium intake during pregnancy to avoid phosphorus has the some effect as not getting enough calcium could cause. Phosphorus has some effect as not getting enough calcium because it can prevent body from absorbing the calcium. OBJECTIVES : To assess the knowledge regarding prevention of leg cramps among antenatal mothers by pre test. To assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on prevention of leg cramps by comparing pre test and post test. To determine the association between post test knowledge and the selected demographic variables regarding prevention of leg cramps among antenatal mothers. METHODS: Pre experimental one group pre test and post test design was adopted to conduct study among ante natal mothers at Maternal Child Health centre, Tirupati
Non probability convenience sampling technique was utilized to select the samples of the study. The tool was validated by experts and modifications were made according to experts suggestions. Result: In the pretest, assessment among 50 antenatal mothers 47(94%) had inadequate knowledge, 2(4%) had moderate knowledge and 1(2%) had adequate knowledge regarding prevention of leg cramps.
In the post test assessment, among 50 antenatal mothers,48 (96%) had adequate knowledge, 2 (4%) had moderate knowledge and none of them had inadequate knowledge regarding prevention of leg cramps.CONCLUSION: The findings of this study revealed that structured teaching programme was effective in enhancing the knowledge regarding prevention of leg cramps among antenatal
mothers.
Key words: structured teaching programme, knowledge, prevention of leg cramps, antenatal mothers
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