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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The rate of maternal and child death in developing countries is alarming, this is evident to reported data, which shows that these deaths have reached up to 99% worldwide (Yargawa & Leonardi-Bee, 2015).  In one of the African regions called Sub-Saharan Africa, maternal and child death is about 1 per 39 persons in the population. Also, in the developing countries of the world, the average maternal and child death occurs 1 in every 3800 persons in the population (Yargawa & Leonardi-Bee, 2015; Say et al., 2014). Also, the World Health Organization has predicted that over five million deaths of children under the age of five by 2025, and about 97% will occur in developing nations  (Kehinde & Umar, 2018; Warren et al., 2015). This is an indication that this has become a global health challenge and a matter of great public health concern in the developing regions of the world. Therefore, urgent attention is required to improve maternal and child healthcare (Ghana Statistical Service, 2015; Nuamah et al., 2019).

The World Health Organization has outlined instructions that will help intervene in this current menace facing developing nations (Nuamah et al., 2019). Some of the interventions involve: supplementation of iron and folic acid to pregnant and post-partum women, provision and administering of vitamin A and for children and postpartum women, intervention to prevent malaria (use of insecticides treated nets and prophylaxis drugs for the prevention of malaria in pregnancy), and interventions on dietary supplementation for pregnant and breast-feeding mothers (Nuamah et al., 2019). Although this intervention is ongoing in several developing nations, the prevalence and death of these vulnerable individuals kept increasing (Bililign & Mulatu, 2017). What could have resulted in increased maternal and child death?

Maternal healthcare has been defined as healthcare service provision, which involves antenatal care, skilled birth attendance care, and postnatal care. As for antenatal care, this provides important healthcare services such as prevention of diseases (through supplementation of vitamins and minerals and prophylaxis care) early detection, and immediate treatment of diseases which improves maternal health and reduces maternal mortality (Nuamah et al., 2019).  Skilled birth attendance care during and postnatal care have a high rate of improving maternal health outcomes (Nuamah et al., 2019). It has been reported that over 50% reduction in maternal mortality is due to skilled birth attendants' care (Nuamah et al., 2019). Inadequate care during the postpartum stage has been reported to be responsible for over 60% of maternal death (Nuamah et al., 2019). Child healthcare also has much to deal with the care of children who are under five (Kehinde & Umar, 2018).  Therefore, appropriate, and adequate care is required for the improvement of maternal and child healthcare.

Several studies have mentioned some factors affecting maternal and child health. Some studies have suggested that it is because of poor usage of maternal healthcare, in developing nations (Joshi et al., 2014). Other studies have attributed it to socioeconomic factors, cultural factors, health system factors (poor access to availability and healthcare access) (Nuamah et al., 2019). All these compounds influence maternal and child healthcare in developing nations (Nuamah et al., 2019). If the mother did not receive adequate healthcare, she becomes very sick or dies, which will seriously affect the child’s health. It has been noted as the major factor that results in increased risks of mortality and morbidity (Joshi et al., 2014). A study in Ghana showed very low access and utilization of maternal healthcare services among pregnant women in the study (Ghana Statistical Service, 2015). Other associated factors to maternal health outcomes include socio-economic factors, educational backgrounds, and the number of children (Nuamah et al., 2019).

Another factor that has led to the increase of maternal and childcare is the associated age of mothers. For example, studies have shown that more than 16 million adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 years give birth annually (Banke-Thomas et al., 2017). As these girls contribute 12% to worldwide birth every year, they are also contributing to about 10% of maternal deaths every year. This report purports that only 2% of these vulnerable groups survive every year (Banke-Thomas et al., 2017).  This could be attributed to serious complications during pregnancy and childbirth experienced by these adolescents. Other attributable causes of such a high death rate are abortion among this age group. Studies have shown that up to three million girls in this age group undergo an unsafe abortion. This vulnerable group has a higher risk of developing pre-eclampsia, anemia, postpartum bleeding, anemia, and obstetric fistula (Banke-Thomas et al., 2017). Other factors responsible for the increased morbidity and mortality rate among these individuals involve single parenthood, poor education, and lack of a job (Banke-Thomas et al., 2017). As for their children, they are greatly affected. Studies have reported a high risk of preterm delivery, very low birth weight, and a high death rate (Banke-Thomas et al., 2017). Poor utilization of maternal health services has been the major cause of these healthcare problems experienced by adolescent mothers and their children. Therefore, it is important to investigate the prevalence and factors affecting maternal and child healthcare in a developing country.

1.1 AIM

• To assess the prevalence and factors affecting maternal and child healthcare in a developing country.

1.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To assess the level of knowledge of pregnant women’s maternal and child healthcare in a developing country.
• To determine the level of utilization of healthcare service among pregnant women in a developing country
• To understand the factors affecting maternal and childcare among pregnant women in a developing country

1.3 RESEARCH PROBLEM

Maternal and child health care is a worldwide problem, especially in developing countries.  In one of the African regions called Sub-Saharan Africa, maternal and child death is about 1 per 39 persons in the population. Also, in the developing countries of the world, the average maternal and child death occurs 1 in every 3800 persons in population the World Health Organization has predicted that over five million deaths of children under the age of five by 2025, and about 97% will occur in developing nations  (Kehinde & Umar, 2018). This is an indication that this has become a global health challenge and a matter of great public health concern in the developing regions of the world. Therefore, urgent attention is required to improve maternal and child healthcare (Nuamah et al., 2019). Therefore, it is important to investigate the prevalence and factors affecting maternal and child healthcare in a developing country.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Do pregnant women in a developing country know about maternal and child healthcare?
• What is the level of utilization of healthcare services among pregnant women in a developing country?
• What are the factors affecting maternal and childcare among pregnant women in a developing country?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This study is very important because it has been reported that maternal and child deaths have reached up to 99% worldwide.  Several studies have mentioned some factors affecting maternal and child health. Some studies have suggested that it is because of poor usage of maternal healthcare, in developing nations. Other studies have attributed it to socioeconomic factors, cultural factors, educational backgrounds, health system factors (poor access to availability and healthcare access) (Nuamah et al., 2019). Therefore, it is important to determine the prevalence and factors associated with maternal and child healthcare in a developing, to increase knowledge and foster action by the relevant bodies to improve maternally and childcare in the developing nation.

1.6 METHODOLOGY

• Study design/Sampling/Collection

This will be a cross-sectional study among pregnant women in some selected hospitals in a developing country. A pretested structured questionnaire will be used to collect all relevant information using simple random sampling.

1.7 ANALYSIS

Collected data from the questionnaire will be entered into SPSS version 20 for analysis. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) with a 95% confidence interval will be used to assess statistically significant variables (p<0.05).

1.8 RISK ASSESSMENT

The risk assessment conducted for this project is provided in the table below:

Table 1:  Risk assessment

1.9 SCHEDULE

    Table 2: Project Plan

REFERENCES

Banke-Thomas, O. E., Banke-Thomas, A. O., & Ameh, C. A. (2017). Factors influencing utilization of maternal health services by adolescent mothers in Low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-017-1246-3

Bililign, N. and Mulatu, T. (2017) Knowledge of obstetric danger signs and associated factors among reproductive age women in Raya Kobo district of Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth [Internet]. 2017 17(1):70. Available from: http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-017-1253-4

Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana Health Service, ICF International. (2015) Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2014 [Internet]. Rockville, Maryland, USA; Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR307/FR307.pdf

Joshi, C., Torvaldsen, S., Hodgson, R., Hayen, A. (2014) Factors associated with the use and quality of antenatal care in Nepal: a population-based study using the demographic and health survey data. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth [Internet]. 14:94. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC394399

Kehinde Peter, A., & Umar, U. (2018). Combating diarrhea in Nigeria: the way forward. Journal of Microbiology & Experimentation, 6(4). https://doi.org/10.15406/jmen.2018.06.00213

Nuamah, G. B., Agyei-Baffour, P., Mensah, K. A., Boateng, D., Quansah, D. Y., Dobin, D., & Addai-Donkor, K. (2019). Access and utilization of maternal healthcare in a rural district in the forest belt of Ghana. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-018-2159-5

Say, L., Chou, D., Gemmill, A., Tunçalp, Ö., Moller, A. B., Daniels, J., Gülmezoglu, A. M., Temmerman, M., & Alkema, L. (2014). Global causes of maternal death: A WHO systematic analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 2(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70227-X

Say, L., Chou, D., Gemmill, A., Tunçalp, Ö., Moller, A. B., Daniels, J., Gülmezoglu, A. M., Temmerman, M., & Alkema, L. (2014). Global causes of maternal death: A WHO systematic analysis. The Lancet Global Health, 2(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70227-X

Warren, C., Daly, P., Toure, L., Mongi, P. (2015) Opportunities for Africa’s Newborns [Internet]. 2015 Available from: http://www.who.int/ \pmnch/media/publications/aonsectionIII_4.pdf

Yargawa, J., & Leonardi-Bee, J. (2015). Male involvement and maternal health outcomes: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Epidemiol Community Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech

Last updated: Feb 04, 2022 04:37 PM