TRENDS IN MATERNAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION IN LOKOJA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KOGI STATE, NIGERIA
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aimed at assessing maternal health care utilization in Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria. The data used for this study and their sources include; Data on antenatal care; number of monthly antenatal visits. Data on delivery care; number of monthly births. Data on postnatal care; number of women receiving care after delivery on monthly basis. The age of maternal women, education, religion, ethnicity, household size, occupation, income and occupation; this was collected through In-depth interviews from childbearing women and partly hospital records. The result revealed that in 2012, the reported antenatal care was 13,744. In 2013, 13,528 antenatal visits were reported. The number of reported visits of antenatal care increased substantially to 14,346 in 2014 and then dropped drastically to 8,952 visits in 2018, which perhaps represents the lowest reported antenatal care of maternal women in Lokoja. It increased slightly thereafter. Antenatal care increased to 9,974 in 2019. The trend in antenatal care from 2012 to 2019 revealed 14.4% increase, which represents a negligible rise in antenatal care for the period under consideration. Analysis of the time period under review revealed that the lowest number of postnatal visits was recorded in 2014, while the highest was recorded in 2019. The On-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) result shows there is a significant variation in maternal healthcare utilization (F = 1.330, p>0.05). This is consequent upon the probability value of 0.000 being lower than 5% significance level. The result further shows that the numbers of antenatal, delivery and postnatal care vary significantly in the study area. The study recommends that the number of people utilizing maternal health services in public hospitals is large and rising; the government must continue to encourage maternal women to utilize government health facilities to ensure that women have access to adequate maternal care services in the area.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Atomode, T. I., & Majekodunmi, M. (2016). Efficiency of public transport operation in Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria. International Journal of Social Sciences, 10(3), 99-113.
Audu, et al., (2020). Prevalence of Malaria Infection Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic At Kogi State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria. Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria.
Bolaji, T. & Clem. G. (2018). A Study of the Prevalence of Malaria in Pregnant Women Living in a Subburb of Lagos, Nigeria. International Scholar Journal, 3(6), 186-188.
Davis. L. (2004). Determinants of Health Seeking Behaviour in Uganda- Is it Just Income and Users Fee That are Important? Manchester, United Kingdom, University of Manchester.
Desai, M., Hill, J., Fernandes, S., Walker, P., Pell, C., Gutman, J., & Dellicour, S. (2020). Prevention of malaria in pregnancy. Lancet Infectious Diseases, 18(4), e119-e132. https://doi. org/10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30064-1.
Doolan, D. L., Dobano, C., & Baird, J. K. (2009). Acquired immunity to malaria. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 22(1), 13–36. https://doi.org/10.1128/cmr.00025-08.
Fagbamigbe, A.F & Idemudia, E.S (2015). Barriers of antenatal care in Nigeria: evidence from non-users and implications for maternal health programming.
Glyn, A. Sushmita, D. Neena, S. Ketaki, H. Shada, M. Shanti, P. & Houwling. A. (2015). Examining Inequality in Uptake of Maternal Health care and Choice of Provider in Underserved Urban Areas Mumbai, India: A Mixed Methods Study, Social Sciences and Medicine, 67, 2447-2463.
Idowu, A. E. (2011). Lack of Prompt and Adequate Medical Attention: Barrier to Maternal Health in Nigeria, International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 4(9),114- 120.
Idowu, A. E. Ewedor, P. & Amoo, O. (2014). Working Conditions and Maternal Health Challenges in Lagos State. Annals of African Medicine, 5(2), 68-72.
Mekonnen Y. & Mekennem, A. (2002). Factors Influencing the Use of Maternal Health Care Service in Ethiopia, Journal of Health Population and Nutrition, 11(3),374-383.
Mesfin, A. (2003). Maternal and Child Health Care Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Ethiopia Public Health training.
National Population Commission, (2010). Population Distribution by Age and Sex: State and Local Government Area. Federal Republic of Nigeria 2006 Population and Housing Census.
NPC (National Population Commission), (2004a). Nigeria Demographic and Health survey, 2003, Abuja.
Onasoga, A. Osaji, T. Akande, O. & Egbunwe, M. (2014). Awareness and Barrier to Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services Among Reproductive Women in Amassona Community, Bayelsa State, International Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 1, 10-15.
Ogbu, G.I., Aimakhu, C.O., Anzaku, S.A., Ngwan, S, & Ogbu, D.A. (2015). Prevalence of Malaria Pregnant Women Compared with Children for Tracking Malaria Transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta- Analysis. The Lancet, 3(10), e617-e628.
UNICEF. (2023). Malaria’s Impact on Infant Mortality in Nigeria: Current Status and Challenges. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/Nigeria
Van Eijk, A. M., Hill, J., Larsen, D. A., Webster, J., & Steketee, R. W. (2019). Coverage of intermittent preventive treatment and insecticide-treated nets for the control of malaria during pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria Journal, 13(12), P1029-1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70199-3.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2023). Malaria in pregnant women: Protecting the most vulnerable. World Health Organization https://www.who.int/publications/malariapregnant- women-2023.