The efficacy of maternal health education and maternal screening on knowledge and the uptake of infant screening for sickle cell disease in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania; a quasi experimental study

Table 2 Socio-demographic characteristics of babies born to pregnant women enrolled into the study

Babies characteristics	N	Percent (%)
Sex (n = 470)^a
Male	240	46.8
Female	250	53.2
Birth weight (n = 470)
< 2.5	14	3.0
2.5 to 3.9	436	92.8
4 and above	20	4.2
Attendance to RCH clinic within the first three months of life (n = 470)
0	8^b	1.7
1	0	0
2	17	3.6
3	445	94.7
Child screened for SCD (n = 470)
Yes	26	5.5
No	444	94.5
Reason for not screening (n = 444)
Financial challenges	106	23.9
Mather forgot about it	237	53.4
Sickness of either mother or child	16	3.5
Thought not important	42	9.5
Death of the child	8	1.8
Up region/no screening equipment	24	5.4
Other reasons	11	2.5
Age (months) Screened (n = 26)
0 to 3	6	23.2
4 to 6	3	11.5
7 to 9	5	19.2
10 to 12	5	19.2
13 to 16	7	26.9
Child Status (n = 26)
AA	23	88.5
AS	0	0
SS	3	11.5

^aTotal number of 470 children were born from 467 mothers where 3 babies were twins
^bTotal of 8 children died before their first visit to RCH clinic

ISSN: 1471-2458