الفهرس 
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Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 is an emerging disease with a rapid increase in cases and deaths since its first identification in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
Limited data is available about coronavirus disease 2019 during pregnancy; however, information on illnesses associated with other highly pathogenic coronaviruses (i.e., severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)) might provide insights into coronavirus disease 2019’s effects during pregnancy (Rasmussen et al., 2020).
Even though vertical transmission has yet to be confirmed, fear and anxiety associated with infection could lead to increased demand for abortion and operative deliveries. With the above background, it becomes imperative that great efforts be made to prevent pregnant women and their fetuses from being infected by the scourge of COVID-19. This can only be achieved if a woman is knowledgeable about how to prevent contracting the virus and also prevent its transmission to her family and others (Sacconea, 2020).
In fact, there is limited information regarding nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge about the COVID-19 outbreak. Thus, it is crucial to
understand what nurses know about the virus and their knowledge of pandemic
complications and disease prevention (Patiraki et al., 2014).
The purpose of the present study was to assess the pregnant women’s and
maternity nurses’ knowledge regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19). A
descriptive research design was utilized in carrying out the current study. It was
carried out in the different selected settings in the Outpatient Clinic of the
Obstetrics department in Birket El Sab Hospital, the MCH center in Al-Birr Al-
Sharqi and the MCH center in Al-Birr Al Gharbi in Birket El Sab.
A purposive sample of 290 pregnant women and a convenience sample of
40 maternity nurses who visited the Outpatient Clinic of the Obstetrics department
in Birket El Sab Hospital, the MCH center in Al-Birr Al-Sharqi and the MCH
center in Al-Birr Al Gharbi in Birket El Sab were included in the study. All
maternity nurses working in the obstetrics department in the previously mentioned
settings were included in the study.
Throughout the course of the present study, data were collected using the
following instrument which are developed by the researcher and revised by
qualified experts, then tested for validity and reliability.
A structured interviewing questionnaire was used to collect data from the
pregnant women and maternity nurses. This instrument included four parts:-
Part 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of the pregnant women such as
age and level of education.
Part 2: Knowledge of pregnant women related to the corona virus
(COVID-19). It included different questions about clinical manifestations, mode
of transmission, and the prevention of corona virus.
Part 3: Socio-demographic characteristics of the nursing staff such as age,
level of education, sex and work experience.
Part 4: Assessment of the nurses’ level of knowledge related to corona
virus (COVID-19). The nurses’ level of knowledge was evaluated through
different questions about the aspects of causes, diagnosis, clinical manifestations,
and modes of transmission, treatment, complications and the prevention of corona
virus.
Approaches to ensure ethics were considered in the study regarding
confidentiality and informed consent. Confidentiality was achieved by the use of
closed sheets with the name of the participating women replaced by numbers. All
women were informed that the information they provided during the study would
be kept confidential and used only for statistical purposes and after finishing the
study, the findings would be presented as a group of data with no personal
participant’s information remained.
Regarding the findings of the current study, the majority of the studied
pregnant women showed poor knowledge score and the majority of the maternity
nurses showed an average knowledge score regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the present study findings, the research questions are answered.
The following recommendations are suggested, such as increasing the
knowledge of pregnant women about coronavirus (COVID-19) through health
education and continuous training programs for nurses related to COVID-19.
Educational materials or charts is necessary to be given for the pregnant women and nurses to update their knowledge.