Postnatal care services use by mothers: A comparative study of defaulters versus attendees of postnatal clinics in Enugu.

INTRODUCTION: Despite much emphasis on the reproductive health of women, maternal mortality is still high, especially in postnatal period. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of postnatal care use and reasons for defaults among mothers attending the child immunization clinics in Enugu, Nigeria. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional comparative study of 400 consecutive nursing mothers who presented at the Institute of Child Health of UNTH and ESUTH, Enugu for Second dose of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV2) for their babies at 10 weeks postpartum. Data was collected using Interviewer-administered questionnaire and subsequently analyzed with version 22.0 IBM SPSS software, Chicago, Illinois. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULT: The prevalence of the 6th week postnatal clinic attendance among the mothers was 59%. The majority of the women (60.6%) who had antenatal care by skilled birth attendants attended postnatal clinic. Unawareness and being healthy were the main reasons for not attending postnatal clinic. Following multivariate analysis, place of antenatal (OR = 2.870, 95% C.I = 1.590-5.180, p < 0.001) and mode of delivery (OR = 0.452, 95% C.I = 0.280-0.728, p = 0.001) were the only significant predictors of postnatal clinic attendance (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Postnatal clinic attendance by women in Enugu is still suboptimal. The main reason for non-attendance of the 6th week postnatal clinic was lack of awareness. There is need for healthcare professionals to create awareness about the importance of postnatal care and encourage mothers to attend.

An overview of vulvovaginal atrophy-related sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women

Menopause and the climacteric period are associated with adverse risk factors for the development of vulvovaginal atrophy-related sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction is a common problem in postmenopausal women; often underdiagnosed; inadequately treated; frequently overlooked; and most often impairing the quality of life of these women. To provide clinicians with current information on vulvovaginal atrophy-related sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women. This study is a literature review on vulvovaginal atrophy-related sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women. Relevant publications were identified through a search of PubMed and Medline; selected references; journals; and textbooks on this topic; and were included in the review. The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction increases with age. It is a common multidimensional problem for postmenopausal women that alter the physiological; biochemical; psychological; and sociocultural environment of a woman. Menopause-related sexual dysfunction may not be reversible without therapy. Estrogen therapy is the most effective option and is the current standard of care for vulvovaginal atrophy-related sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women. Sexual dysfunction is a common multidimensional problem for postmenopausal women and often impairs the quality of life of these women. Estrogen preparations are the most effective treatment. Selective estrogen receptor modulators; vaginal dehydroepiandrostenedione; vaginal testosterone; and tissue-selective estrogen complexes are promising therapies; but further studies are required to confirm their role; efficacy; and safety

Asymptomatic malaria parasitemia does not induce additional oxidative stress in pregnant women of South East Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between asymptomatic malaria parasitemia and some oxidative stress parameters in pregnant Nigerian women. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study involving 130 normal pregnant women at various trimesters, who were attending antenatal clinic at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) and Kenechukwu Specialist Hospital in Enugu. A comparable group (control), made of 30 non pregnant women was also recruited. After a 24 hour dietary recall, serum levels of vitamin A, C and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined by colorimetric method, while vitamin E was determined by absorptiometric method. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in age, parity, estimated calorie, vitamins A, C and E intake between the pregnant and non pregnant groups (P> 0.05). The serum level of the vitamins (umol/L) and MDA (umol/L) in control, 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters respectively were: (1)Vitamin A: 1.6±0.36 vs 0.6±0.26 vs 0.62± 0.33 vs 0.46± 0.21 (P < 0.0001); (2) Vitamin C: 75.65±14.15 vs 62.97±24.4 vs 37.85±15.19 vs 28.94±8.52 (P<0.0001); (3) Vitamin E: 3.01± 1.32 vs 3.45±2.01 vs 9.36±2.75 vs 9.82±2.97 (P<0.0001); (4) MDA: 1.42± 0.02 vs 1.61±0.02 vs 1.79±0.02 vs 2.03±0.05 (P<0.0001). However, there were no significant changes in the serum level of the vitamins and MDA between the positive and the negative parasitemia subjects (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic malaria parasitemia does not induce additional oxidative stress on pregnant women in Nigeria. The enormity of acute and complicated attack should be further investigated.