Association between the Use of the Self-recording Sections of the Mother and Child Health Handbook and Disaster Preparedness of Mothers in Japan

Aim: This study investigated the use of the Mother and Child Health (MCH) Handbook and the association between the knowledge of disaster preparedness and utilization of the self-recording sections of the MCH Handbook.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, self-reporting questionnaires were distributed to 1,009 puerperal women, and 662 complete responses were analyzed.Results: Overall, 42.0% used the self-recording sections in the MCH Handbook during pregnancy, and 29.8% shared the MCH Handbook with family. Additionally, 78.1% participants recorded their weight changes during pregnancy, 54.5% recorded the development of their fetus in the MCH Handbook, and 66.6% had read information for pregnant women. Fisher’s exact test showed a significantly different rate of knowledge of disaster preparedness regarding Disaster Emergency Dengon Dial 171, the cellular phone disaster message board, and a hazard map among pregnant women who used the self-recording sections and those who did not.Conclusions: This study demonstrated the rate of each function in the MCH Handbook. Pregnant women who used the self-recording sections in the MCH Handbook had disaster preparedness knowledge about the recognition of the Disaster Emergency Dengon Dial 171, the cellular phone disaster message board, and a hazard map.