Mapping knowledge management resources of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) among people living in rural and urban settings of Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Lack of access to information and knowledge about mother and child health was identified as a major contributor to poor maternal and child health in Nigeria. The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) has recognized mapping the knowledge management of Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) as one of the major strategies to be deployed in improving the health of these vulnerable groups. The main aim of this study is to map the knowledge management resources of  Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) in rural and urban settings of Ilorin West LGA of Kwara state Nigeria.

Methods: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study with a comparative analysis of findings from urban and rural settings. Epi-mapping was used to carve out the LGA and map responses. The p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant at 95% confidence level.

Results: The study showed that  traditional leader was responsible for more than half of the traditional way of obtaining information by rural (66.7%) and urban (56.2%) respondents while documentation accounts for the main MNCH knowledge preservation for the rural (40.6%) and the urban (50%) dwellers. Traditional leaders (32.2%) and elders (46.7%) were the main people responsible for dissemination of knowledge in rural areas whereas elders (35.9%) and Parents (19.9%) were the main people responsible in urban areas.

Conclusion: It was concluded that traditional and family institutions are important in the knowledge management of MNCH in both rural and urban settings of Nigeria.

Key words: Maternal, child, newborn, knowledge management, mapping