Abstract
Ultrasound is a safe diagnostic tool used in pregnancy to detect significant causes of foeto-maternal mortality. We explored the reasons for an obstetric scan in 400 randomly selected pregnant women attending a low-cost ultrasound centre in Nigeria. We used a cross-sectional analysis using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire.The results showed that the participants were aged 27.37±5.96 years, 76% literate, 68.5% Muslims, 50.5% small-scale self-employees, and 31.45% grand-multiparous. The reasons for an obstetric scan were foetal well-being (44.2%), referral by a health worker (34%), gender determination (9.7%), vaginal bleeding (4.8%), confirmation of pregnancy (2.6%), due-date determination (2.5%), foetal weight estimation (2.1%), and foetal number (0.1%). Spouse education with foetal wellbeing (p = .001), gender determination (p = .002), and dating of gestation (p = .002); participants’ occupation with referral by a health worker (p = .026) and confirmation of pregnancy (p = .044); spouse occupation with foetal wellbeing (p = .004) and vaginal bleeding (p < .001); daily household income with referral by a health worker (p < .001) and pregnancy dating (p = .005); and religion with gender determination (p = .007). Health education and improved access to ultrasound services will go a long way in improving maternal/child health.
Highlights
Nigeria is the second country with the worst maternal and child mortalities having daily maternal and under-five deaths of over 145 women and 2,300 children respectively (Odesanya et al, 2015)
The results showed that the participants were aged 27.37±5.96 years, 76% literate, 68.5% Muslims, 50.5% small-scale self-employees, and 31.45% grand-multiparous
The study had achieved its objectives of discovering the reasons of seeking ultrasound services by pregnant women attending Hamamah Diagnostic Services Centre (HDSC) Keffi and testing associations between the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants against the reasons for a scan
Summary
Nigeria is the second country with the worst maternal and child mortalities having daily maternal and under-five deaths of over 145 women and 2,300 children respectively (Odesanya et al, 2015). Nigeria ranks second with the worst maternal mortality rate of 800 deaths per 100000 live births (Bakari et al, 2015). Antenatal care (ANC) provides an opportunity for pregnant women to have an ultrasound scan. Jing et al (2015) showed that an obstetric ultrasound could detect most of the causes of maternal death with high specificity and sensitivity. Oboro et al (2015) supported the use of obstetric scan as a tool during ANC for the early diagnosis of some pregnancy-related problems
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