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Background: Nutrition is the basic requirement for human development, life and health. It becomes more important during pregnancy time because of the increased nutritional needs for both the woman and the fetus. Pregnant women must possess appropriate nutritional habits and consume nutritious foods to avoid any undesired health complications. In Palestine, research on nutritional knowledge and practices among pregnant women is sparse. Therefore, this study aims to assess the level of nutritional knowledge and practices among pregnant women visiting private gynecological clinics in Hebron city in Palestine. Method: A cross sectional survey design was employed. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from a convenient sample of pregnant women regarding their nutritional knowledge and habits, nutritional status, medical profile and their sociodemographic. Results: 156 pregnant women completed all the required assessments. Their age ranged from 17 to 43 years, (M= 26.21± 0.521). They had relatively low level of knowledge on maternal nutrition indicted by the mean score value of (14.8±2.3). There was no significant relationship with level of knowledge and sociodemographic variables. Based on the study results, there is a need for educational programs to enhance the women’s awareness on maternal nutrition and dietary habits during pregnancy.
Key words: pregnancy, maternal diet, nutritional knowledge, awareness