Tehran University of Medical Sciences Journal of Family and Reproductive Health 1735-8949 11 4 2017 12 10 211 218 EN Sakineh Dadipoor Mother and Child Welfare Research Center, School of Public Health, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran Ali Ramezankhani Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Azin Alavi Fertility and Infertility Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran Teamur Aghamolaei Social Determinants on Health Promotion Research Center, Faculty of Health, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran Ali Safari-Moradabadi Student Research Committee, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2017 09 18 2018 01 16 Objective: Investigate the health literacy of pregnant women in the south of Iran. Materials and methods: The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 775 pregnant women in the south of Iran (including Boushehr, Ahvaz, Zahedan and Bandar Abbas cities) through the clustering sample selection method. The data were collected through the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults: TOFHLA, and were analyzed statistically via SPSS 16 through independent-sample t-test and ANOVA. Results: The average age of the subjects was 31.89 ± 7.54 years. The results indicated that 15.5% of the subjects had an inadequate level of health literacy; 41.7% had a border-line level of health literacy, and 42.8% had an adequate level of literacy. Significant correlations were found between each of these variables and the subjects’ level of health literacy: education, age, occupation and care provision during pregnancy (p ˂ 0.05). The highest mean score of health literacy belonged to Ahvaz while the lowest belonged to Boushehr. Conclusion: According to the results, the health literacy level of pregnant women in the target geographical areas showed to be inadequate or on a border-line. Moreover, subjects’ education, age and occupation showed to be significantly correlated with health literacy. Therefore, promoting pregnant women’s health literacy through simplifying health-related information, use of audio-visual media, improving communicative skills among the health staff and mothers can be effective. https://jfrh.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jfrh/article/view/683 https://jfrh.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jfrh/article/download/683/403