ORIGINAL: Maternal and Child Healthcare Delivery in Secondary Healthcare Facilities in Oyo State, Nigeria: Working Towards Sustainable Development Goal 3

West Afr J Med . 2022 Jul 31;39(7):737-746.

Abstract

Abstract  in English, French

Background: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were not achieved by most Sub-Saharan countries including Nigeria. This further led to the proposition of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to run from 2015-2030, to make up for the deficiencies. There is a need to assess the Maternal and Child Healthcare (MCH) delivery, to work towards achieving SDG 3.

Objectives: To evaluate the MCH delivery practices and to identify the related challenges at the secondary care level in Oyo State, southwest Nigeria.

Methods: The study was cross-sectional in design. Twenty-two healthcare facilities were selected by simple random sampling and were assessed using an adapted semi-structured checklist of the WHO manual on Integrated Management of Pregnancy and Childbirth Series. The analysis was done, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.

Results: All the facilities offered normal delivery services and 81.8% offered the three basic child health services (sick childcare, vaccination, and growth monitoring). All the facilities had essential supplies for antenatal and newborn care, and essential drugs for antenatal and childcare. However, only 36.4% had essential delivery medications. Also, 18.2% had available guidelines for MCH delivery, and 42.0% of the staff were present at the time of the survey. The major challenges identified were small staff size (50.0%), lack of equipment (31.8%), and (18.2%) for lack of equipment, medicine, hands-on training, and supervision.

Conclusion: There is a need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of the MCH services and to improve on the identified challenges. This would help in working towards achieving SDG 3 by the year 2030.

Mots clés: Soins prénataux, Soins de santé infantile, Évaluation, Établissement de santé, soins de santé maternelle, soins de santé secondaire, ODD.

Keywords: Antenatal care; Child health care; Evaluation; Health facility; Maternal health care; SDG; Secondary health care.