Survey of midwives' knowledge of caries prevention in perinatal care.

Purpose To assess midwives' knowledge about oral health and early caries prevention during perinatal care for mothers and babies. Study design and methods A survey developed by the investigators was conducted among midwives to assess their knowledge about caries etiology, their attitude toward their role in early caries prevention, and prophylactic measures recommended during pregnancy, and after birth, for their babies. Self-administered questionnaires were sent to 180 midwives in hospitals and 323 midwives from a midwives' association in Hesse, Germany. Results Response rates were 46% (83/180) and 56% (181/323); a total of 264 questionnaires were evaluated. Most midwives were familiar wit…