Determinants of Ante-natal Care, Place of Delivery and Post-natal Care Services of Rural Women in Northern Nigeria

Aim: This study aimed to identify the determinants of Ante-natal care, place of delivery and post-natal care services of rural women in Northern Nigeria.

Study Design: It was a descriptive cross-sectional design

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in selected rural areas of Sokoto State, Northern Nigeria during the periods January – February 2017.

Methodology: A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit 322 mothers for the study. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using IBM SPSS. The study examined attendance at Ante-natal care services, place of delivery and attendance of post-natal care as primary outcomes. Binary logistic regression using forced entry was used to compute the determinants of Ante-natal care services, place of delivery and post-natal services. The output of the regression analysis was presented as Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. The level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.

Results: Majority 258 (80.1%) of the mothers attended ante-natal care but only 45 (14%) of the mothers delivered in the hospital while only 104 (32.3%) went for post-natal visit. Determinants of Ante-natal care services, place of delivery and post-natal care was found to be maternal education and socioeconomic status. Mothers with formal education were twice more to attend Ante-natal care services (p ≤ 0.05, OR = 2.11, 95% C.I = 0.99 – 4.450. Mothers with non-formal education were more likely to deliver at home (p = 0.01, OR = 0.29, 95% C.I = 0.14 – 0.59) while those in the upper class were more to attend post-natal care (p = 0.03, OR = 1.81, 95% C.I = 1.05 – 3.13).

Conclusion: The study demonstrates that maternal education and socioeconomic status influence Ante-natal care services, place of delivery and post-natal services. Therefore, there is need to encourage female-child education and women should be empowered to improve their socioeconomic status so that they can take charge of their health.