Maternal health profile in a rural community of north-western Nigeria: Descriptive outcome of a community diagnosis

Abstract

Despite the evolving reduction in maternal mortality globally, high rates still exist in developing countries, mainly from preventable causes. Factors  contributing to these preventable maternal deaths include low literacy, frequent or too-early pregnancies, poor maternal and reproductive health  care, pregnancy complications, weak health system and poverty. A survey to assess the profile of maternal health and health services was carried  out amongst 1,947 mothers in Kaura LGA, Kaduna State, North-western Nigeria. The mean age of respondents was 29.7±9.5 years, maternal literacy  rate was 88.4%, and 68.3% engaged in various income generation activities. Mean age at first pregnancy was 21.7±4.5 years with 73.4% being pregnant by 24 years of age. About 73.2% of the women had between 1 to 4 children. Antenatal care (ANC) booking was predominantly in the second trimester (72.2%). However, 62.8% reported having attended more than 4 ANC visits. Health facility remains the main outlet for ANC service uptake (93.7%), delivery services (79.3%), and skilled supervision during delivery (83.5%). However, 46.7% did not access postnatal care. Obstetrics-related complications were fever (probably from infection), excessive vomiting and pre-eclampsia. Awareness of contraceptive methods was 88.1%  with 41.1% utilization rate, and implant (39.7%) with injectables (35.0%) being the dominant methods in use. This study reveals comparatively  impressive maternal health care utilization profile, unusual in a typical rural community. These findings may be attributable to observed satisfactory socio-demographic outlook, health seeking behavior and service availability. Improvement in contraceptive and postnatal service uptake is  recommended.

Key Words: Community Health, Assessment, Maternal Health Services, Reproductive health, Nigeria