Factors Affecting Maternal Health Care Services Utilization Among Rural Women with Low Literacy in Minority Communities, Benue State, Nigeria

Download or read book Factors Affecting Maternal Health Care Services Utilization Among Rural Women with Low Literacy in Minority Communities, Benue State, Nigeria written by Blessing O. Adukwu and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Numerous women die from labor and pregnancy complications yearly. Most of these deaths are unnecessary and are seen in developing countries due to unsupervised pregnancy and labor. Utilization of maternal health care services is associated with an improvement in pregnancy and labor outcomes. Due to the high number of maternal deaths seen in Nigeria and as the time frame for the Millennium Development Goal draws closer, this qualitative study employed focus group discussions to explore factors at the individual level that prevent the utilization of Maternal Health Care Services (MHCS). The focus is on rural women in Nigeria withlow-level literacy in minority and study neglected areas. The results of the study show that cost, distance, road conditions, travel time, and availability of transport means affect the utilization of MHCS. Factors that determined women’s cues to action included the feeling of non-susceptibility, lack of knowledge of the complications that could arise in labor, the delivery and post-delivery period, routine practices, an inadequate knowledge of available MHCS options, and misplaced perception of the benefits of MHCS.