en Nursing Original Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><strong>Background: </strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span sans-serif=""><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times="">Pregnancy is considered as the most precious gift for any woman. She should have a safe pregnancy and delivery. Unfortunately, many women are deprived from this right due to poor knowledge or awareness. Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPACR) have proven to be effective strategy to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. This study was done with an objective to assess the knowledge and practices of BPACR among third trimester women attending antenatal clinic.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <strong>Methods: </strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span sans-serif=""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times=""><span style="color:black">The present study was a cross sectional study conducted </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times="">in antenatal clinic of Howrah District Hospital West between 15^th December 2020 to 20^th January 2021. Study participants were 200 Primigravida mothers who were in third trimester of pregnancy attending the antenatal clinic.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times=""> Semi- structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic data and obstetrical history; structured knowledge questionnaire</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times=""> and checklist was used to asses&rsquo; </span></span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times="">knowledge</span></span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times=""> and practice on BPACR. </span></span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times="">Chi-square test or Fischer&rsquo;s exact test</span></span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times=""> was used as test of significance for qualitative data. <span style="color:#231f20">Correlations were performed with </span>Pearson Correlation <span style="color:#231f20">coefficient</span>. coGuide software was used for statistical analysis.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <strong>Results: </strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span sans-serif=""><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times="">Out of 200 pregnant women, 169(84.5%) have done higher secondary education and 176(88%) were home makers. Majority (62.5%) were residing in urban area. Among participants, 138 (69%) primigravida mothers had inadequate levels of knowledge about BPACR and 140(70%) had inadequate practice.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <strong>Conclusion: </strong><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span sans-serif=""><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span new="" roman="" times="">In this study, the BPACR knowledge and practice of the participants were inadequate. Ideal BPACR given through education can help in healthy practice during antenatal and postnatal period.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></p> BPACR, Primigravida, Third Trimester, West Bengal, Antenatal Women, Preparedness. 14 17 http://nmj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1360-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Suparna Bhattacharya bhattacharyasuparna77@gmail.com 100319475328460011434 100319475328460011434 No Department of Health and Family Welfare, Balurghat Nursing Training School, India Bhanumati Dutta bhanumatidutta@ckbirlahospitals.com 100319475328460011435 100319475328460011435 No Department of Medical and Surgical Nursing, B.M. Birla College of Nursing, India Suresh Chandra Mondal sureshmondal77@gmail.com 100319475328460011436 100319475328460011436 Yes Department of Obstetrics and gynaecology, Malda Medical College and Hospital, India