Abstract
Background: Battling with COVID-19 and providing essential services along the continuum of care could be challenging. This study will evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on utilization of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services in Nigeria and explore the barriers being experienced by women and their families in getting access to MNCH services, as well as other contextual factors that may have shaped the utilization of MNCH services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods and analysis: The study will adopt an observational mixed-methods study design involving 18 health care facilities delivering MNCH services in six selected states across six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. We will retrieve longitudinal data on MNCH services from all selected hospitals three months before and after the first recorded case of COVID-19 in Nigeria. Qualitative data will be collected using in-depth interviews conducted via mobile phones or ZOOM meeting platforms among stakeholder participants (users of MNCH services, health workers and policymakers) to ascertain their perceptions on how COVID-19 has shaped the utilization of MNCH services. We will triangulate quantitative and qualitative data to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the utilization of MNCH services in Nigeria. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approvals have been obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee of the tertiary hospitals involved in the study. Our findings will provide the first evidence from an African setting on the impact of COVID-19 on the utilization of MNCH services using a mixed-methods study design for policy formulation towards sustained MNCH service delivery.
Highlights
IntroductionThe Sustainable Development Goals agenda is part of the global efforts to improve maternal, new-born and child health (MNCH) by challenging countries to make efforts to reduce the global burden of maternal, new-born and child mortality[1]
The Sustainable Development Goals agenda is part of the global efforts to improve maternal, new-born and child health (MNCH) by challenging countries to make efforts to reduce the global burden of maternal, new-born and child mortality[1]. Despite these efforts, global maternal mortality remains unacceptably high with about 303,000 women dying each year from pregnancy-related complications[2], for which subSaharan Africa and Southern Asia accounts for about 86% of such deaths[1]
The maternal mortality ratio in Nigeria is 512 per 100,000 live births and some of the main causes of maternal deaths include obstetric haemorrhage, infection, obstructed labour, unsafe abortion, preeclampsia/ eclampsia, malaria, anaemia, and contributory factors such as lack of awareness about complications in pregnancy, inability to seek timely medical intervention, lack of utilization of health care services, lack of transportation and inability to pay for services[4,5]
Summary
The Sustainable Development Goals agenda is part of the global efforts to improve maternal, new-born and child health (MNCH) by challenging countries to make efforts to reduce the global burden of maternal, new-born and child mortality[1]. The maternal mortality ratio in Nigeria is 512 per 100,000 live births and some of the main causes of maternal deaths include obstetric haemorrhage, infection, obstructed labour, unsafe abortion, preeclampsia/ eclampsia, malaria, anaemia, and contributory factors such as lack of awareness about complications in pregnancy, inability to seek timely medical intervention, lack of utilization of health care services, lack of transportation and inability to pay for services[4,5]. With these indices, Nigeria is the second largest contributor to maternal mortality worldwide accounting for more than 10% of all cases[2,5]. We will triangulate quantitative and qualitative data to better understand the version 2
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