Perceived Benefit Of Health Education On Pregnant Women Attending Ante-Natal Care
Utilization of antenatal care by pregnant mothers is important in improving maternal and neonatal health and survival. However, in Nigeria, although over 90% of mothers utilize the services, only 17% initiate it at the appropriate time. The study was conducted to assess the factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care services by pregnant mothers in Esan West Regional Referral Hospital.
A cross-sectional descriptive study design employing quantitative methods of data collection was used to collect data from 200 pregnant mothers who were selected using a simple random sampling method. Data was collected through the use of pretested questionnaire and is presented in tables, figures with frequencies and explanatory remarks.
According to the study findings the maternal related factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care services by pregnant mothers were age, marital status, educational level, whether the pregnancy was planned, knowledge of antenatal care and decision making power.
Regarding the socio-economic factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care services by pregnant mothers, number of dependents, partners support and educational level, occupation, and ability to afford transport costs were mentioned.
About the health related factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care services by pregnant mothers, waiting time, yelling and shouting at mothers, perceptions towards health workers, perceived quality of antenatal care and being advised by health workers to seek antenatal care.
In conclusion, the major factors found to be affecting utilization of antenatal care services were maternal age, educational level, partner support, occupation, waiting time and perceptions towards health workers.
Therefore, there is need for health workers to encourage male involvement in antenatal care while providing timely quality services to pregnant women in Esan West Regional Referral Hospital.
This study examines Knowledge, Attitude and Use of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINS) Among Pregnant Women and Nursing Mothers in Surulere L.G.A. Lagos State, Nigeria. Faced with the problem of high rate maternal anaemia, intrauterine growth retardation, preterm birth, and low birth weight. The study was guided by the following objectives; Assess pregnant women and nursing mothers’ awareness and knowledge about LLINs; Examine respondents’ attitudes towards the use of long lasting insecticidal nets; Determine the rate of LLINs utilization among pregnant women and nursing mothers in Surulere L.G.A; and to Identify factors which influence respondents’ utilization and non-utilization of LLINs.
Concerning methodology, the study employed triangulation of qualitative and quantitative research method with the use of survey method and Focus Group Discussion. The population of this study consists of all female in Surulere local government of Lagos State. The researcher used Multistage sampling technique to select respondents for the survey; two hundred (200) respondents were used for the study. Primary and secondary data sources were used and data was analyzed using statistical package which was presented in frequency tables and percentage. The study findings revealed that there is a need for emphasis to be placed on improving LLINs maintenance practices in order to increase the duration of use and its efficacy in prevention and control of Malaria.
Finally, since access to LLINs was highlighted as a challenge, especially in rural areas, the appropriate government agencies, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) should focus on improving access to LLINs.
The interaction between a pregnant mother and her developing baby are numerous and varied ranging from the food she eats to the kicks of the baby that she feels. What the developing baby feeds on goes a long way in determining its state of health at birth. For a pregnant mother to eat healthfully, she needs to have adequate knowledge of the different component of food. But if the knowledge is not put in practice, it becomes meaningless.
The major objective of this study therefore was to examine the nutritional knowledge and practice of the pregnant women in Mayo-Dassa Jalingo Taraba State. Because of the large number involved, and the fact that most of the hospital had no maternity, only two hundred and fifty pregnant women were used. Eight specific objectives and corresponding research questions and six hypotheses were stated and used for the study.
The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire which had three sections. The personal data of the respondents, fourteen questions each on nutritional knowledge and practice respectively. The questionnaire responses on knowledge were two-point scale of Yes and No while that of practices were in three-point scale of “Practice Always”. “Do not practice” and “Practice Rarely”. Data were analyzed using correlation analysis, percentage, ANOVA and multiple t-test of paired comparison. The results showed that all the hypothesis of the study were rejected. The mean (x) percentage of the subjects who indicated knowledge of what constituted good nutrition was greater than those who indicated regular practice. Some correlation existed between the subject’s knowledge of nutrition and their nutritional practice. Education, age and parity influenced their knowledge and practices of nutrition. Based on these results some recommendations were made such as:- (a) Health educators and nutritionists should be invited to give health talks to pregnant women during antenatal clinic. (b) The age, educational level and parity levels of these pregnant women should be considered during the lessons.
This study examined the assessment of socio-economic status and the utilization of traditional herbs in the treatment of malaria among pregnant women in Taura metropolis Jigawa State. Malaria in pregnancy can lead to malaria-related anaemia, a condition that when left untreated, can result in death, especially among vulnerable populations such as pregnant women. Malaria can lead to severe anaemia and maternal and foetal death. This study aimed at exploring the perception and use of traditional medicine in the treatment of malaria among pregnant women in Taura L.G.A, Jigawa state. A descriptive cross-sectional survey method was adopted for the study. Study population was 93 pregnant women purposively selected from Taura L.G.A. Structured questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.75 was used for data collection. Health Research Ethics Committee of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Jigawa approved the study. Data collection was on the spot and was analysed with SPSS/IBM version 23. Inferential statistics was used to test the significance of income and educational level in determining the use of traditional medicine among pregnant women at p<0.05 level of significance. Majority (93.5%) of pregnant women in Taura used traditional medicine to treat malaria. More than half (87.1%) perceived traditional medicine used in treating malaria as effective. Efforts should be intensified to discourage and reduce to the barest minimum the use of traditional medicines in treating malaria in pregnancy. This will help in stemming the tide of maternal and child mortality and morbidity in these urban slums.