Mothers Expectation of Maternal Health Service in Enugu State, South East, Nigeria - Preferences of Mothers in Urban and Rural Areas
Abstract:
Introduction: About 830 of mothers die daily from pregnancy and pregnancy related events. Over 99% of these deaths are preventable. Access to quality maternal health service is very important to prevent these deaths. Maternal expectations are important variable that determine usage of maternal health services. Objective: To determine and compare the expectations of mothers in urban and rural areas of Enugu State, South East, Nigeria, regarding maternal health services.
Methodology: This community-based comparative, cross sectional study was carried out among 1,681 respondents selected by multistage sampling technique. The data was analysed using Chi-square test of significance, Student t-test, Bi-variant, and logistic regression, at 95% confidence interval, and P-value was set at 0.05. This study was carried out from August, 2022 to October, 2022.
Results: Majority (85%) of the respondents in urban areas, and rural areas (72%) were more than 25 years of age. Majority of the respondents (66.8% to 90.1%) in both locations had low expectations concerning the overall maternal health services to be provided at the facilities. However, mothers in the urban areas reported more expectations than those in the rural areas.
Conclusion and Recommendations: Maternal expectations regarding the overall services given at health facilities in urban and rural areas were low. However, maternal expectations were higher in urban areas than in the rural areas. There should be an improvement of the health system to enable women have a better perception of maternal expectations. This will encourage the women to utilize health facilities for their maternal health services.
