Awareness and Use of World Health Organisation Safe Childbirth Checklist among Midwives Practicing in Health Institutions in Imo State (Published)

Maternal and child health are pivotal to the growth and development of any nation and a critical aspect of the healthcare practice that ensures that adequate and safe childbirth practices are in place for safe delivery especially in resource-constrained settings. This study determined the awareness, use, benefits and challenges with the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist among the Midwives in Imo State, Nigeria. The study utilized a descriptive survey design and surveyed 145 midwives as a sample. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. For the quantitative data, a well-structured questionnaire was issued to midwives employed by certain health facilities in Imo state. The midwives were selected using a random sampling method. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted, and results were presented in the form of tables, charts, and percentages. More of the respondents were 36 years or older (74.5%), spent greater than 10 years in practice (57.9%), are graduates (75.9%), work in the public health facilities (64.1%). only 27.6% of the midwives working in these facilities are aware of the WHO Childbirth Checklist and only 4.8% of them consistently incorporate the checklist in their routine care of women in labour. Staff with more than 10 years of experience (p = 0.021), involved in teaching/administration (p = 0.007), as well as those without professional memberships (p<0.001) were significantly associated with consistent use of the WHO Checklist. The study’s findings add to the existing body of knowledge and provide valuable insights into the awareness and utilization of the WHO SCC among midwives in the Imo State. This, in turn, sheds light on potential areas for improvement in maternal delivery.

Keywords: Checklist, Childbirth., awareness, safe

Assessment of the Knowledge of Risk Factors Associated with Heart Diseases among Women of Reproductive Age in Nigeria (Published)

Many women are unaware that coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of mortality. Instead, breast cancer is their greatest dread. Worryingly, healthcare practitioners seem to lack fundamental understanding regarding cardiovascular disease among women. Women are normally 10 years older than males when heart disease is found, and they are 20 years older when they suffer their first myocardial infarction. Because coronary heart disease is more frequent in elderly women, many believe that postponing the process of decreasing their risk will be postponed. The aim of this study is to assess knowledge of risk factors associated with heart diseases among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. The study was cross sectional study design. Data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaire, and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 and presented using appropriate tables. Level of significance set at P<0.05. The findings from this study shows a significant association with overall knowledge of the respondents on health related issues at (χ²=23.173, p=0.000) and (χ²=18.260, p=0.000) respectively as p<0.05 in each case and non-significant association with age and religion, economic status and occupation at (χ²=1.158, p=0.561) , (χ²=2.689, p=0.101)  (χ²=1.417, p=0.841) and (χ²=7.276, p=0.064) respectively of the respondents as p<0.05. Overall, the respondents participated in this study have a good knowledge and awareness of the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and warning features of CVD events.  Community education on CVDs, targeting especially populations with low socio-economic status, may be beneficial in the combined efforts to achieve the reductions in heart attacks.

Keywords: Risk Factors, awareness, heart disease

Awareness and Utilisation of Family Planning Among Postpartum Women in Ondo State, Nigeria (Published)

This study investigates the awareness and utilisation of family planning among postpartum women attending postnatal clinics in selected health centers in Ifedore Local Government, Ondo State. The objectives include determining sources of information, examining common methods used, and assessing knowledge, utilisation, and perceived attitudes of workers regarding family planning. A descriptive design was employed, and the target population comprised women aged 15 to 49, 1 week–12 months postpartum, accessing child health services from three selected health centers. The sample size of 234 was determined using Cochran’s formula, with data collected through a self-structured questionnaire. Validity and reliability were ensured through expert assessment and a pilot study. Analysis using SPSS 27.0 involved percentages, tables, and chi-square tests. The findings revealed commendable understanding of family planning services among women of reproductive age, although utilisation remained inadequate. Factors contributing to this included low socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, and limited education. Despite these challenges, the study highlights the potential for positive outcomes in the future, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive understanding of family planning services. Recommendations include enhancing community education on the benefits of smaller families and women empowerment, promoting gender balance, and emphasizing immediate initiation of family planning postpartum in healthcare settings. These initiatives aim to address barriers and promote the use of family planning methods among women in the study area.

Keywords: Family Planning, Postpartum Women, Utilisation, awareness

Awareness of Adverse Effects of Tobacco Smoke on Under-Five Children Among Nursing Mothers Attending Clinics at Ikotun Primary Health Centre, Lagos (Published)

Tobacco smoke has remained a major public health challenge despite numerous strategies devised by international communities to control it. Studies have shown that maternal passive and active smoking is associated with an increased risk of obstetric complications and adverse perinatal outcomes. Parents who choose to smoke are possibly not aware of or deny the negative effects of such action on their offspring. Based on this observation, this study investigated awareness of adverse effects of tobacco smoke on under-5 children amongst nursing mothers attending clinics at Ikotun PHC Lagos. The study employed a descriptive survey design, convenience sampling, a self-designed questionnaire, and both face and content validity to assess the awareness of nursing mothers attending Ikotun Primary Health Centre, Lagos, regarding the adverse effects of tobacco smoke on their under-five children. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and presented descriptively in frequency tables to provide insights into the research objectives. Study revealed that the overall awareness and knowledge level of tobacco smoke was good as majority (74.2%) and (52.5%) of the study population were aware and knowledgeable about the harmful effects of tobacco smoke to young children. Also, the nursing mothers exhibited poor perception towards tobacco smoke with a mean score of 1.4 and 37.5% of them that strongly agreed that tobacco smoking is not harmful even during pregnancy. majority (83.3%) and (76.7%) of the study population believed that being a smoker and age respectively affects knowledge and how the pregnant women perceive the adverse effects of tobacco smoking particularly on the unborn. Most (65.8%) affirmed that having a smoker in the family affects the perception of the adverse effects of tobacco smoking. Based on these findings, there is need for public health education programme targeting this population should enhance their self-awareness and consequently increase their knowledge to the complications, discomforts, infertility and adverse perinatal outcomes related to STS exposure and prompt them to adopt prevention strategies.

 

Keywords: Adverse Effects., awareness, nursing mothers, tobacco smoke, under-5

Awareness and Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Services among Women of Reproductive Age in Rural Areas of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria (Published)

This study examined awareness and utilization of maternal and child health services among women of reproductive age in rural areas in Akwa Ibom State.  Three objectives and three research questions were raise to guide this study. A descriptive survey research design was adopted and the population of this study was 303,768 females of reproductive age in the study area and a sample size of 246 women of reproductive age drawn through purposive sampling technique was used for the study. A researcher-developed questionnaire titled Awareness and Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Care Services Questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.73 was the instrument for data collection. The data were analyzed using frequency and percentage. The findings of the study indicated that there was a great awareness of maternal and child health services among women of reproductive age; utilization of maternal and child health services among women of reproductive age was good; there was a great level of utilization of maternal and child health services among women of reproductive age. Based on these findings, it was concluded that there was optimal awareness and utilization of maternal and child health services among women of reproductive age in rural areas in Akwa Ibom State. Based on the findings, recommendations were made that federal, states and local government areas should still need to reach out to other people who do not utilize maternal and child health care services; educating women and men about the importance of maternal and child health care services would make them to utilize the services and efforts should be made to fill health service gaps with substantial success through more community-based facilities and financial subsidies.

Keywords: Utilization, awareness, maternal and child health services

Awareness and Utilization of Cervical Cancer Screening Among Primary Health Care Workers in Ilesa, Osun State (Published)

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cervix which is a cylinder that connects the lower part of a woman’s uterus to her vagina. The study investigated the awareness and utilization of cervical cancer screening services among primary health care workers in Ilesa, Osun state. The study adopted the descriptive cross-sectional research design. The sample size was determined by Taro Yamane, which was 192. Proportionate random sampling technique was used to select female primary healthcare workers. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire which was divided into three sections. The instrument was subjected to face and content validity. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient for the constructs ranged from 0.72 to 0.85. The descriptive statistics was employed to answer the research questions, while Pearson correlation and chi-square analysis were employed to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that level of awareness and utilisation of cervical cancer screening services was moderate. There was significant relationship between the level of awareness and utilization of cervical screening services among primary health workers (r = .272, p = .000<0.05). Only age (x² = 25.533, p = .003 < 0.05) and ethnicity (x² = 18.520, p = .005 < 0.05) were related to level of awareness of cervical screening services while age (x² = 28.549, p = .000 < 0.05), marital status (x² = 9.077, p = .011< 0.05), monthly income (x² = 19.347, p = .000 < 0.05) and educational qualifications (x² = 51.004, p = .000 < 0.05) were related to level of utilisation of cervical screening services among primary health workers. It was recommended among others that there is need to establish cervical cancer screening education programmes among health care professionals at all levels, especially among nurses.

Keywords: Health Care Workers, Screening, Utilization, awareness, cervical cancer

Awareness and Attitude towards Utilization of Reproductive Health Services among Adolescents in Calabar Municipality (Published)

Purpose: The main focus of this study was awareness and attitude towards utilization of Reproductive health services among adolescents in Calabar Municipality. Objectives: In order to successfully carry out the study, the following objectives were formulated to guide the study. To determine the level of awareness of adolescents towards utilization of reproductive health services in Calabar municipality. To assess the attitudes of adolescents towards utilization of reproductive health services in Calabar municipality. To identify the barriers of adolescents towards utilization of reproductive health services in Calabar municipality. Literature: Literature, was reviewed based on the research variables, Methods: the research instrument used in collecting data for analysis was a questionnaire which was administered on one hundred and fifty (150) adolescents in Calabar Municipality who served as sample for the study. Their responses were analyzed using frequencies, percentage and Pearson product moment correlation analysis and the following results were obtained. Results: in table 3 indicate that 50(33.3%) of the respondents strongly agreed that they did not like reproductive health services because of its complications to health while 3(2%) agreed, 84(56%) of the respondents strongly disagreed while 13 (8.6%) of the respondents disagreed. 40(26.6%) of the respondents strongly agreed, that they like reproductive health services because it prevents unwanted pregnancy, 44(29.3) disagreed, 60(40) of the respondents strongly disagreed while 6(4%) disagreed. 8(26.6%) strongly agreed that they love going to hospital because the nurses there will explain different methods of reproductive health services to them 90(60%) agreed, while 2(1.3%) strongly disagreed, 50(33.3%) disagreed. 80(53.5%) of the respondents strongly agreed that they love reproductive health services because they do not want to be pregnant, 8(5.3%) agreed, 60(40%) strongly disagreed and 2(1.3%) disagreed. 30(20%) of the respondents strongly disagreed that most adolescent choose the wrong method because it offers an appropriate method to each  adolescent 30(20%)  disagreed while 45(30%) agreed, 45(30%) strongly agreed. 45(30%)  of the respondents strongly agreed that most women choose the wrong method because of improper counseling based on culture religion and ignorance 30(20) agreed while 30(20%) strongly disagreed and 45(30%) disagreed. Conclusion: Reproductive health services   were   accessible   to   adolescents   in   Calabar Municipality. And most adolescents were aware of the reproductive health services but fail to utilize it. There is no significant relationship between attitude of reproductive health services and adolescents   utilization of reproductive health; Reproductive health services were available to the public for use. There is no significant relationship between barriers of reproductive health services and adolescents utilization of reproductive health services. Nevertheless, it was concluded that Local   Government   authorities   should   organize   enlightenment campaigns, to educate adolescents in the area on the importance of reproductive health services.

 

Keywords: Adolescence, Reproductive Health, Utilization, attitude, awareness