Availability and use of services for maternal and child health care in rural Nigeria

Abstract

A personal in-home interview was conducted in four rural towns in Nigeria. The aims of the interview were to describe the content of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) care in these rural towns and to assess how patterns of prenatal, delivery and postnatal service use are related to a variety of demographic and socioeconomic variables in the population. Findings from data analysis indicate that services available are deficient in terms of the number of centers and content of care. Variables found to be statistically significant (P < 0.01) for use of services are maternal education, occupation, distance and previous use of a physician. Husband's occupation was significant only for prenatal registration, but not for subsequent use of services. Recommendations include a reorganization of rural MCH services and an introduction of female literacy programs, especially at the rural level.