ABSTRACT

Nigeria ranks among the nations with the highest mortality rates in the world going by the cur-rent maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 630/100,000 live births. The utilisation of maternal health services is known to be associated with improved and maternal health outcomes among women. In order to encourage the use of health services by women in various communities, the most prominent communication approach used by midwives to reach out to women in Niger State is the group communication approach. For this reason, this study examines how effective the group communication campaign carried out by the Midwife Service Scheme (MSS) in Niger State is able to address the problem of child delivery at home among women in Niger State. The study adopts Mixed Methods Research to collect data from respondents. Cluster sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to locate where the target population (pregnant women and nursing mothers) are concentrated (primary health centres) as well as those interviewed as key informants (MSS focal person, midwives and nurses). In addition, participant observation was used in order to detect some information that the respondents may be shy to talk about or may not want to divulge at all. Three hundred copies of questionnaires were administered to pregnant women and nursing mothers drawn from three primary health centres of the three local government areas selected through balloting within Niger State. The study discovered that the group communication campaign carried out by the MSS in Niger State is effective in addressing the problem of child delivery at home. It also discovered that women are better reached by mid-wives and nurses through face-to-face communication approach by assembling them in various primary health centres within communities of Niger State thereby promoting attendance and par-ticipation of the exercise. Also, the study found out that most women‘s decision to visit the hos-pital for childbirth was influenced by the communication campaign carried out by the MSS. In other words, the campaign has positively changed the views and perceptions of majority of the women within the study area who do not visit health centers for childbirth. Again, the study dis-covered that distance was the major factor affecting women‘s attendance for the campaign as well as their utilisation of maternal health services. Therefore, the study recommends that more PHCs should be established in different locations across each community so as to complement the existing ones which may go a long way in solving the problem of distance. Also, there should be systematic evaluation of the campaign carried out by the MSS as well as other health campaigns within Niger State and the country at large, through a regular assessment of the impact of such exercise on the beneficiaries.

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The desire to procreate is an obligation common to all human societies, particularly the female species except for some reasons that could prevent some from partaking in this responsi-bility. In an attempt to fulfill this desire, many women lose their lives during childbirth especial-ly in developing countries. Pregnancy-related complications are among the leading causes of death and disability among women in Nigeria and for every woman who dies, other women suf-fer injury, infection or disease (Dahiru, n.d). Maternal mortality rate, according to United Na-tions International Children’s Emergency Fund -UNICEF (2014), is higher in areas where wom-en have many babies in short time spans under malnutrition, bad hygienically conditions and lack of access to medical treatment.

Abimbola, Okoli, Olubajo, Abdullahi and Pate (2012) posit that maternal, new born and child health indices in Nigeria vary widely across geopolitical zones. There are urban and rural variations with maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 351/100,000 live births in urban areas com-pared to 828/100,000 in rural areas. This may be as a result of the variations in the availability of skilled attendance during child delivery. To improve these indices, the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) funded under the MDGs-DRG, 2009 Appropriation Act; 2,488, deployed unem-ployed and retired midwives to 652 primary health care facilities in 332 Local Governments carefully selected in all the 36 states and FCT (MDG-DRG Funded Midwives Service Scheme, 2009). With a collaborative effort between the Federal Ministry of Health and core partners in the Maternal and Child Health efforts, the Midwife Service Scheme is an intervention designed to address shortage of skilled birth attendants at primary health care level in Nigeria.

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