ABSTRACT
Background: Antenatal patronage is very low in most sub-Saharan African countries, Nigeria inclusive. It has also been recognised that most women who registered for antenatal care in a particular health institution, do not go back to the same centre to deliver when in labour. Skilled attendant delivery is very low in Nigeria. While many reasons can be adduced for this health seeking behaviour, antenatal care satisfaction is one of them. We decided to study how satisfied are the antenatal subjects at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa.Objective: The objective of this study is to determine antenatal mothers' perception of prenatal services at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional observational study conducted at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Nigeria between 1st of June 2015 and 30th of September, 2015. A pretested questionnaire was administered to 198 consecutive antenatal attendees at the centre by two Interns serving in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.Results: The mean number of antenatal visits was 4.2 ± 2.52 and the median was 4.0. One hundred and eighty-seven (94.5%) said the antenatal health talks were very educative, 103(52%) think the antenatal care visits should be made more frequent, 43 (21.7%) think they should reduce the frequency of visits, 183(92.4%) rated services at the centre from being good to excellent. One hundred and twenty-five (56.6%) respondents were generally dissatisfied with long waiting time to see doctors.Conclusion: The majority of mothers were happy with services and interventions rendered at the institution, measures that have been known to improve women's health in pregnancy and also improve perinatal outcomes. However, a sizeable proportion of subjects were unhappy with long waiting time to see a doctor, an issue that had dogged obstetric practice in sub-Saharan Africa. This issue needs to be tackled by caregivers and stakeholders alike
Subject(s)
Health Facilities , Perception , Pregnancy , Prenatal CareABSTRACT
Background: The contraceptive prevalence in our environment is very low with attendant increase in unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. The use of emergency contraception (EC) in women with unprotected intercourse could be the only option that can avoid the unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. Objective: The objective was to assess the knowledge; attitude; and practice of emergency contraception among doctors in Port Harcourt. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study of medical doctors practising in Port Harcourt. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 100 participants randomly selected from medical doctors present at a general meeting in January 2006. Data collation and analysis was carried out with Microsoft Excel XP software and presented as percentages and proportions. Results: The awareness of EC was high among the doctors in Port Harcourt. However knowledge about its use was poor. Although 98of them were aware of emergency contraception; 58could not identify correctly any type. Oral mifepristone (RU486) was the most recognized form of EC identified by 38of the doctors. Rape would be the commonest indication for emergency contraception as reported by 76of the doctors; ahead of missed pills by 36and incestuous sexual intercourse by 46of the doctors. Postinor (levonorgestrel) given within 72 hours and IUCD inserted within 5 days of intercourse were the commonest forms of EC administered by 26each of the doctors interviewed. Conclusion: Although the awareness of EC is high among the doctors in Port Harcourt; the knowledge and use of EC is low. Therefore there is a need to improve both education and attitude to use of emergency contraception among medical doctors in Port Harcourt