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American Journal of  Physical Education 
and Health Science (AJPEHS)

Knowledge and Perception of  Women of  Reproductive Age on Utilization of  Maternal 
Health Care Services in Akure South Local Government Area of  Ondo State: A

Quantitative Approach
Taiwo Monisola Olufunke1*

Volume 1 Issue 2, Year 2023
ISSN: 2992-9679 (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajpehs.v1i2.2089
https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajpehs

Article Information ABSTRACT

Received: November 08, 2023

Accepted: December 12, 2023

Published: December 14, 2023

Even though Maternal health care services utilization is very important for further 
improvement of  maternal health, limited evidence exists on the utilization of  Maternal 
health care services among women of  reproductive age in Nigeria. This has resulted into 
high rate of  maternal mortality. Thus, this study aims to assess the knowledge and perception 
of  women of  reproductive age on utilization of  Maternal health care services in Akure south 
local government area of  Ondo State, south western Nigeria using a qualitative research 
methodology. Data were primarily sourced from 384 women of  child-bearing age who were 
purposively selected across the communities in Akure south local government area through 
a multi-purpose sampling technique. Secondary Data were obtained from journals, hospital, 
records, government’s publications, newspapers, and some internet materials that are relevant 
to this study. Analyses of  Data were carried out with the aids of  descriptive and inferential 
statistics. The findings revealed that majority of  the respondents have good knowledge but 
poor perception of  the Maternal health care services. Majority of  the respondents opined 
that education and religion contributed to the utilization of  Maternal health care services in 
the local government area. The study further revealed that there is a significant association 
between respondents knowledge and utilization of  Maternal health care services (R= 12.29, 
p< 0.000). There is also a significant association between respondents religion and the 
utilization of  Maternal health care services ( R = 8.44, P < 0.01). Significant association also 
exists between the respondent level of  education and the use of  maternal healthcare service 
(r =16.20, p< 0.01). But here is no significant association between the perception of  the 
respondent and utilization of  maternal healthcare service ( R =10.25, p>0.777) . The study, 
however, concluded that women of  reproductive age in Akure South Local Government 
area have good knowledge and poor perception maternal healthcare service which utilization 
is influenced by their education especially in rural communities within the study areas 
and their religious affiliations. Against this background, the study recommends increased 
enlightenment among child- bearing women on the importance of  maternal healthcare 
services, subsidization of  cost of  accessing healthcare services by the governments and 
NGOs, strengthening the National Health Insurance scheme to incorporate family planning 
into its benefit package, upgrade of  the existing health facilities and establishment of  more 
health centres in rural and semi-urban areas with explosive populations. 

Keywords
Knowledge, Maternal Health, 
Perception, Reproduction Age, 
Utilization

INTRODUCTION
The world Health Organization (WHO) 2017 described 
maternal health as the health of  the mother during 
pregnancy, child health and the postpartum period and 
it also entails ante-natal care, postnatal care and delivery 
service. Maternal health has become a worldwide public 
health concern because the lives of  millions of  mothers 
in the reproductive age group can be saved through 
adequate utilization of  maternal health care services.
The UNDP (2016) estimate also posited that for every 
maternal death, an estimated 30 to 50 women suffer 
from pregnancy-related health problems such as pre-
eclampsia, hemorrhage, unsafe abortion, and obstructed 
labour among others. According to the body globally, 
more than 70% of  maternal deaths are due to five major 
causes: Sepsis (29.6%), Anemia in pregnancy (3.2%), 
hypertension (27%) , HIV (3.2%) and sickle cell disease 
(2.4%). These complications can occur at any time during 
pregnancy and childbirth, often without forewarning and 

often require immediate access to emergency Obstetric 
care.
According to the World Health Organization 
(WHO), 2018, specific interventions such as iron or 
folic supplementation for pregnant and postpartum 
women, vitamin A supplementation for women, 
malaria prophylaxis intervention such as intermittent 
preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTP) and dietary 
supplementation for pregnancy or lactating mothers, have 
helped improve maternal and child healthcare. Despite 
this development, the maternal mortality rate continues 
to increase, especially in developing countries.
The need for antenatal care and availability of  trained 
personnel to offer to women during and delivery will 
go a long way in addressing issue of  maternal mortality 
and morbidity (Okonofuga and Ogu, 2014). It was 
further stressed that provision of  pregnant women with 
information, treatment of  existing social and medical 
conditions and screening for risk factors are the solutions 

1 Department Of  Public Health City University, Cambodia
* Corresponding author’s e-mail: Taiwoolufunke2018@gmail.com



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Am. J. Phys. Educ. Health Sci. 1(2) 8-15, 2023

to the ever-increasing cases of  maternal mortality in the 
country. But, a major constraint to the development, 
implementation and monitoring of  interventions aimed 
at combating the problem of  maternal mortality in 
Nigeria is lack of  reliable data, as there is no organized 
vital registration system in the country.
The availability and utilization of  maternal health care 
services are very important to improve maternal health 
among women of  reproductive age in Nigeria but limited 
evidence exists on the utilization of  maternal health care 
services among these women (Cooke and Tahir, 2013). 
Thus, this study aims at assessing the knowledge and 
perception of  women of  reproductive age on utilization 
of  maternal health care services in Akure South Local 
Government area of  Ondo State, South Western Nigeria. 
It will also identify and discuss factors that influence 
the choice of  maternal healthcare services among these 
women in the same local government area.

Statement of  Problem
Nigeria’s high rate of  maternity and infant mortality 
presents  serious challenges to health practitioners, 
policymakers, governments, stakeholders and 
International Partners.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 
report on maternal mortality, the mortality ratio of  
Nigeria stands at 569 per 100,000 live births. This is 
unacceptable.
Maternal health services are provided by Ondo-State 
Government at every level of  health care system. Health 
institution in Akure South render antenatal care (ANC), 
delivery care, postnatal care (PNC). New born care, 
Basic Essential Obstetric Care (BEOC), Comprehensive 
Essential Obstetric Care, (CEOC), Emergency Obstetrics 
Care (EOC),The basic Emergency obstetric care 
(BEOC),comprehensive Emergency obstetrics care ( 
comprehensive EMOC). There is a shortage of  manpower 
across the health facilities culminating into a major 
problem of  availability and distribution of  professionals 
like Doctors, Clinical officers and pharmacists leaving 
nurses, mid-wives, and health technicians to make up the 
professional labour force of  skilled attendants. 
Similarly, utilization of  maternal healthcare services among 
women are hampered by several factors. These militating 
factors include but not limited to: location of  health care 
facilities cost of  accessing services poor transportation 
network religion, family, education, external influence and 
inadequate awareness (Chakraborty, Islam, Chowdhury, 
Bari and Akter, 2003).
Over the years, poor knowledge and perception of  women 
of  reproductive age in most communities in Nigeria 
affects the utilization of  maternal health care services and 
had contributed to, in no small measure, to high cases of  
maternal mortality ratio in Nigeria (Ogunmakinwa, 2023., 
Main, 2010).
This study is guided by the following research questions: 

• What is the level of  knowledge of  maternal health 
care services among respondents’? 

• What is the level of  perception of  maternal health 
care services among respondents’? 

• What is the influence of  the following variables on 
the utilization of  maternal health care services among the 
respondents (i) Education (ii) Religion

LITERATURE REVIEW
Knowledge and perception of  women of  child bearing 
age on utilization of  maternal health care services, the 
researcher posited that poor knowledge and perception 
of  women of  reproductive age have affected negatively 
the utilization of  maternal health care services owing 
to many factors according to National Population 
Commission and ICF International, 2014. The scholar 
also opined that it is proper to create more awareness 
in respect of  the subject matter. Over the years, poor 
knowledge and perception of  women of  reproductive 
age in most communities in Nigeria had contributed to 
worsening case of  non-utilization of  maternal health 
care services ( Ajayi and Akpan, 2020). They, however, 
suggested that government at all levels should always 
consult the people before sitting ant health facility in 
communities for the people to embrace it, espousing 
importance of  community participation. 
UNICEF (2016) posited that utilization of  maternal 
health services in most development countries in terms 
of  utilization of  antenatal, postnatal and delivery services 
are unfairly large, in comparison with the developed 
countries where it is estimated that about 97 percent of  
the pregnant women receive ANC and 99 percent used 
skilled obstetric service delivery, whereas, in developing 
countries only 53 percent of  women use ANC service. 
This assertion was corroborated by World Health 
Organization (WHO) report of  2018 on the utilization 
of  maternal health care services in Africa where it was 
affirmed that the use of  Antenatal care, delivery and 
postnatal services by African women is one of  the lowest 
in the world. The report, however, suggests thee need for 
government to refocus on the improvement of  antenatal 
care and availability of  trained person to attend to women 
during labour and delivery most in the communities as 
this will go a long way in addressing the problem. 
In the same vein, results from various studies have 
found move evidence of  an association between age 
and utilization of  ANC services. These reviewed works 
suggested there is association between age and utilization 
of  maternal health care services.

Factors Determining the Utilization of  Health Care 
Services in Nigeria
Healthcare utilization is defined as the people’s use of  
health care services (Babalola and Fatusi,2009. Cooke 
and Tahir, 2013). According to the scholars the choice of  
health care facilities or services among people may vary 
from person to person and from place to place depending 
on various factors predisposed to the end users. Although, 
good utilization of  health services in any society serves to 
improve the quality of  people’s health, studies have also 



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shown that healthcare utilization by the people depend 
on availability, quality of  service, socio-economic status 
of  the people and personal characteristics of  the users. 
According to a research conducted in Ondo State, 
government-owned hospitals, private hospitals, patent 
medicine sellers and maternity homes were the most 
preferred types of  facilities due to competence, 
effectiveness, treatment, promptness of  services, quality 
of  services and proximity of  the health facilities to the 
residence of  the users. 
However, cost was a major determinant of  health seeking 
behaviour of  the people in Ayangba North Central Nigeria 
while equally argued was that the choice of  healthcare 
facility utilization in the area is greatly influenced by the 
waiting time, especially in government owned hospitals 
They argued that long queues are found in such hospitals, 
affecting the turnaround time for treatment and 
complacency on the part of  the health workers as a result 
of  having had to attend to many patient daily (Atchessi, 
Ridde and Zunzunegui, 2016). 
The poor quality of  services and poor attitude of  staff  are 
the major contributing factors for the under utilization of  
health facilities in the developing countries (Mimiko,2017). 
In addition, the competing nature of  tradition medicine 
and modern medicine is also major concern that is posing 
a threat to the utilization of  modern healthcare facilities 
in the country. A survey conducted in Benin city Edo 
State South- South Nigeria in 2008 revealed that for every 
signpost that indicated modern healthcare facilities in the 
city, there were also three others that indicated tradition 
health facility (Abimbola,Okoli, Olubanjo, Abdullahi and 
Pate, 2012). This suggested that quite a number of  people 
seek medical attention in more of  traditional medicine 
and spiritual homes than hospitals and other modern 
health facilities in the country. 
To this end, various explanations have been put forward 
by theorists to explain the determinants of  healthcare 
facilities or services utilization among people. For instance 
in Anderson’s healthcare utilization model identified three 
basic factors that may determine the utilization of  health 
facilities by the people. The first one he identified is called 
the propensity factors, suggesting than an individual will 
likely utilize a health facility if  he/she believes that such 
health facility will be useful for his/her treatment. 
The second factor he called enabling factor includes 
access to health insurance, family and community 
support as well as the location of  the individual while 
the third factor is the basic need factor which entails 
perception of  the need for health services which is 
socially evaluated. Rosenstock (1966) on the other hand 
came up with the health belief  model which is centered 
on four basic assumptions. The first assumption suggests 
that an individual will seek health service if  he or she 
believes he/she is vulnerable to disease. Second, health 
facility utilization depends on the severity of  illness while 
the third assumption contends that an individual will seek 
healthcare service where he/she can get the best service 
at the minimum cost. However, the last assumption 

suggests that individual choice of  healthcare facility 
utilization depends on influence from friends, family 
members and media.

METHODOLOGY
The research design for the study is the descriptive 
research design. This method allows for collection of  
data in a quantitative manner. The study population 
comprises women of  reproductive age residing in Akure 
South Local Government Area of  Ondo State. 
Leiz Fishers’ formula was adopted to determine this 
study’s sample size. Below is the calculation 
n= Z2pq/d2

z= Standardized normal 
p= Prevalence (0.5) obtained from previous study 
(knowledge and perception of  women of  reproductive 
age in Abraka in Delta State on utilization of  maternal 
healthcare services (2007). 
z = 1.96,  
q = (1-P) 
d = is the precision (0.05) 
n = 1.962 x 0.5 (1- P)/0.0025
n = 3.84 x 0.5 (0.5) 
n = 0.96/0.0025 
n = 384 
Thus, 384 respondents were considered as the sample 
size. A multistage sampling technique was adopted for 
the selection of  participants from the study population. 
This type of  sampling techniques requires the researcher 
to choose his/her samples in stages until he/she gets the 
required sample. In using multistage sampling, the eleven 
wards in Akure South Local Government Area were first 
identified. They are: Aponmu, Gbogi/ Isikan 1, Gbogi/ 
Isikan 2, Ijomu/ Obanla, Ilisa, Oda, Odopetu, Oke Aro, 
Iro, Isolo and Owode/ Imuagun.

Stage 1
This stage involved the using of  stratified sampling 
technique to stratify the eleven
(11) Wards in the local government.

Stage 2
Here, two (2) urban wards and 2 rural wards were selected 
through simple random sampling (balloting). They are 
Aponmu and Oda (rural wards) and Gbogi/ Isikan 2 and 
Oke Aro(urban wards).

Stage 3
Communities in the 4 selected wards were listed out and 
two communities each were selected randomly. Thus, 8 
communities (4 rural and 4 urban) were selected in all. 
The 8 selected communities are: Oda, Ilekun, Aponmu, 
Ita-Oniyan, Ilisa, Oke-Aro, Gbogi and Isolo. Women in 
the selected communities were assessed using structured 
questionnaire. Their consents were secured and questions 
were interpreted to some of  the uneducated ones in Yoruba 
Language which is the local dialect of  the majority of  
the respondents. Their responses were coded and treated 



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with confidentiality. The questionnaire instrument had 
three sections; Section A - the socio- demographic profile 
of  the respondent. Section B consists of  questions raised 
in chapter one on the knowledge of  the respondents on 
the utilization maternal health services while Section C 
centered on questions raised in respect of  the perception 
of  the respondent on utilization of  maternal health care 
services. The questionnaire consists of  both open ended 
and close ended questions. The reliability of  the study 
instrument was tested through a pre-test conducted in 
one of  the selected communities (Ilekun) to ascertain the 

Table 1: Age of  respondents 
Age group (years) Frequency Percentage%
≤29years 44 11.46% 
30-39years 270 70.31% 
≥40years 70 18.23% 
Total 384 100.0

Table 2: Marital Status
Marital Status Frequency Percentage%
Single 10 2.60%
Married 360 93.75% 
Divorced 14 3.65% 
Total 384 100.0

Table 3: Religion Profile
Religion Frequency Percentage%
Christianity 300 78.13%
Islam 70 18.23%
Traditional worshippers 14 3.64% 
Total 384 100.0

Table 4: Education Status
Education Status Frequency Percentage%
Primary education 84 21.88%
Secondary education 200 52.08% 
Tertiary education 100 26.04% 
Total 384 100.0

reliability of  the research instrument (Questionnaire). A 
total of  30 respondents were drawn from the selected 
community for this purpose.

Data Presentation and Analysis 
The data generated were analyzed using descriptive 
statistics such as frequency tables, percentages and 
inferential statistics (Chi-square) was also used for 
hypotheses testing to show association between variables 
under investigation. The table below provides the socio-
demographic profile of  the respondents.

Source: Field Survey 2022 
Table 1 above analyzed the ages of  the respondents from 
the table 270 (70.31%) respondents are between age 30-
39 years and 44 representing 11.46% of  the respondents 
are 29 years and below while 70(18.23%) of  them are 
40 years and above. This means the majority of  the 
respondents are within the active reproductive age.
From the above table; 360 respondents representing 
93.75% are married while 10 (2.6%) are single 14(3.65%) 
are divorced. This implies that majority of  the respondents 

are married women.
From the above table, majority of  the respondents, 
300 representing 78% are Christians while 70(18%) are 
Muslim and 14(3.84%) are traditional worshippers. This 
implies the majority of  the respondents are Christians.
From he table above, majority of  the respondents 
200(52.08%) have secondary education while 100(26.04%) 
have tertiary education 84(21.88%) possessed primary 
education. This implies that the majority of  the 
respondents possessed secondary education. 

Research Question 1
What is the level of  knowledge of  women of  reproductive 
age on Maternal healthcare services?

From the above table, 350 respondents representing 
(91.15%) agreed that they are aware of  the various 
forms of  healthcare services available for women. Also, 



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340 representing (88.54%) of  the respondents equally 
considered all forms of  maternal healthcare services 
safe. In the same vein, 360(93.74%) agreed that regular 
utilization of  maternal health service help in safe delivery. 
365 representing (95.05%) of  the respondents also called 
that regular utilization of  maternal healthcare services 
can prevent pregnancy related diseases. This implies that 

the majority of  respondents have good knowledge of  
maternal healthcare service.

Research Question 2
What is the level of  perception of  Maternal healthcare 
services among women of  reproductive age?
From the above table, 180 of  the respondents 

Table 5: Respondents knowledge on Maternal healthcare service 
Variable Yes% No% I don’t know%
Are you aware of  the various forms of  Maternal healthcare 
services available for women? 

350(91.95%) 30(7.81%) 4(1.04%) 

Do you consider all forms for Maternal healthcare services 
safe for women?

340(88.54%) 40(10.42%) 4(1.04%) 

Does regular utilization of  Maternal healthcare services help 
in safe delivery? 

360(94.7%) 14(3.8%) 10(26%)

Are you aware that regular utilization of  Maternal healthcare 
services can prevent pregnancy related diseases?

365(95.05%) 14(3.65%) 5(1.30%)

Table 6: Respondents’ perception of  Maternal healthcare services
Variable Yes% No% I don’t know%
Are there enough staff  in the health facility you use?  180(47%) 192(50%) 12(3.0%) 
Are medical equipments available in the facility you use?   160(41.67%) 214(55.73%) 10(2.6%) 
Are essential drugs readily available in the health facility you use? 148(38.55%) 203(52.86%) 33(8.59%)
Do manpower always available in their duty posts? 120(31.25%) 246(64.06%) 18(4.69%) 
Are there provisions for emergency Maternal healthcare services 
in the facility you use   

147(38.28%) 203(52.86%) 34(8.85%) 

representing 47% said there are enough staff  in the health 
facilities they used while 196 respondents representing 
50% disagrees with the assertion. Also, 160 (41.67%) 
agreed there are medical equipment in the facility they 
use while 214 respondents representing 55.73% admitted 
there ere no medical equipment in the facility they use. 
In the same vein, 148(52.86%) of  the respondents 
agreed there are essential drugs in the facility they use 
and 200(52%) disagree that essential drugs are not readily 
available in the health facility they use. Majority of  the 
respondents 246(64.86%) admitted that manpower do 
not always available in the duty post. Also, majority of  

the respondents 203(52.86%) also disagree that there are 
no enough provision for emergency Maternal healthcare 
services in the facility the use while 147 representing 
(38.28%) agreed there are provisions for emergency 
Maternal healthcare service in the facility they attend. 
This implies the majority of  the respondents have low 
perception of  Maternal healthcare service in the local 
government area.

Research Question 3
To what extent does religion influence utilization of  
maternal healthcare services among respondents?

Table 7: Respondents view on extent to which religion influence their utilization of  maternal healthcare services
Variable Frequency Percentage%
Very high 280 72.92%
High 70 18.23% 
Low  34 8.85% 
Total 384 100

From the table above, 280(72.92%) respondents 
agree that the extent to which religion influence their 
utilization of  maternal healthcare services is very high 
while 70(18.23%) are of  the opinion that influence of  
religion on the  utilization is high and 34(8.85%) agreed 
that the influence of  religion on their usage of  Maternal 
healthcare services is low. This implies that religion 

has high influence on the respondents use of  Maternal 
healthcare services.

Research Question 4
To what extent does education influence the utilization 
maternal healthcare services among the respondents?
From the table above, 244 (63.54%) respondents agrees 



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that education has very high influence on their usage of  
Maternal healthcare services while 100 (26.04%) are of  
the opinion that it has high influence and 40 (10.42%) 
affirmed that influence of  education on their usage of  
maternal healthcare services is low. This implies that the 
majority of  the respondents agree that education has a 
very high influence on utilization of  healthcare services.

Hypotheses Testing Using Chi-square 
Ho1: There is no significant association between 
respondents level of  knowledge and utilization of  
Maternal healthcare services.

Results from the above table shows there is significant 
relationship between the respondents level of  education 
and the use of  maternal healthcare services. This implies 
respondents that are educated patronize maternal 
healthcare services more than the illiterate or respondents, 
with no formal education (r=6.20, P<0.01).

DISCUSSION
Findings from the analyses of  data collected for the study 
show that there was higher percentage of  married women 
within the age bracket of  30-39 years. The study further 
reveals that about 78.13% of  the respondents were 
Christians. Analysis of  the collected data revealed that 
most women of  reproductive age in the local government 
have good knowledge of  maternal healthcare service 
utilization. This is evident from the fact that 350(91.15%) 
of  the respondents agreed that they are aware of  the 
various maternal healthcare services available for women 
and only 30(9%) do not agree. Also, majority of  the 
respondents 360(93.75%) agreed that regular utilization 
of  maternal healthcare services help in safe delivery. 
The study further revealed that most respondents have 
low perception of  maternal healthcare services. This is 
evident from the fact that 192(50%) of  the respondents 
admitted that were no enough staff  at the health facilities 
they use. In the same vein, majority of  the respondents 
214(55.73%) claimed there were no medical equipment in 
the facility they use. Also, 203(52.86%) of  the respondents 
claimed that essential drugs are not readily available in 
the healthcare facility they attend. The findings further 
revealed that education and religion have an influence on 
the choice of  maternal health care services patronized by 
the respondents. The study showed there is significant 

Table 8: Respondents view on the extent to which education influence their utilization of  Maternal Healthcare services
Variable Frequency Percentage%
Very High 244 63.54% 
High 100 26.04% 
Low  40 10.42% 
Total 384 100

Table 9:
Variable N Mean Std Sig. 
Respondents knowledge 384 32.09 3.434

0.0012.29 
Maternal health care services 384 35.25 2.755

From the table above, it shows there is significant association 
between the respondents knowledge and utilization of  
maternal healthcare services. R=12.29 and P<.000
Ho2: There is no significant association between the 
respondents perception of  maternal healthcare services 
and utilization of  maternal healthcare services.

Table 10:
Variable N Mean Std Sig. 
Perception of  
respondents 

384 29.4 6.00

0.77710.25 
Maternal health care 
services 

384 35.252 2.758

From the table above, it shows that there is no significant 
association between the perception of  the respondents 
and utilization of  maternal healthcare services (R=10.25, 
P>0.777). 
Ho3: There is no significant relation between the 
respondents religion status and the use of  maternal 
healthcare services
From the table above, the results show that there is 
significant association between respondents religion and 
the use of  Maternal healthcare services. (R=8.44, P<0.01). 
This implies the respondents religion inclination go a long 
way in determine their use of  maternal healthcare services. 
H04: There is no significant association between 
respondents level of  education and the use of  maternal 
healthcare services.

Table 11:
Variable N Mean Std Sig. 
Respondents Religion 384 32.4 7.22

0.018.44 
Maternal health care services 384 38.2 2.64

n= 384 

Table 12:
Variable N Mean Std Sig. 
Respondents level of  
education 

384 36.2 8.22

0.016.20 
Maternal health care 
services 

384 39.2 3.64

n= 384 



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association between the knowledge of  the respondents 
and utilization of  maternal healthcare service (R=12.29, 
P<.000). There is also a significant association between 
the respondent’s religion and utilization of  maternal 
health services (r=8.44, P<0.001). 
However, the study revealed no significant association 
between respondents perception of  maternal healthcare 
services and its utilization (r=10.25, P>0.777). As 
regards, the level of  education of  the respondents, the 
study shows that there is significant association between 
the respondents level of  education and the usage of  
maternal healthcare services (r=6.20, P<0.01). on the 
local government where it was concluded that women in 
the area have good knowledge, but poor perception of  
maternal healthcare services. 
However, the future should carry out scientific 
investigation on the relationship of  the child- bearing 
women and the utilization of  health care services, while 
expanding on the scope of  the present study so as to 
reflect more generalized opinions of  the study population. 
The research did not enjoy funding from any source apart 
from the personal resources of  the scholar. 

CONCLUSION
From the findings of  this study, it can be concluded 
that women of  reproductive age in Akure South Local 
Government have good knowledge and poor perception 
of  maternal healthcare services utilization which 
influenced the patronage of  various health care facilities 
that are available within their area       
 
RECOMMENDATIONS

• Government show expand the awareness campaigns 
about health care services utilization among mothers who 
live in the remote area of  the local government.

• Regular training and sensitization of  medical staff  
should be done on regular basis at the facility level to 
uphold ethnical code of  conduct. 

• Government should as a matter of  urgently renovate 
and supply medical equipments to most of  the primary 
healthcare across centers the local government for better 
productivity 

• Government should make health insurance scheme 
available to mothers in order to reduce their financial 
burden and family planning should be included in the 
scheme. 

• Both government and non-governmental agencies 
should subsidize cost of  maternal healthcare services to 
make them more accessible to the mothers.   

REFERENCES
Abimbola, S., Okoli , U., Olubanjo, O., Abdullahi, M. J., 

and Pate, M. A. (2012) The midwifes  service scheme 
in Nigeria. PLos med, 9(5)

Ajayi, A. I., and Akpan, W. (2020). Maternal health 
care utilization in the context of  “Abiye” (safe 
motherhood) programme in Ondo State, Nigeria. 
BMC Public Health, 20, 362. http://dol.org/ 10.1186/
s12889- 020-08512- Z

American college of  obstetricians and Gynecologists. 
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