Utilization of maternal and child health care services in akpabuyo local government area of cross river state, Nigeria

Introduction: Pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death and disability for women aged 15-49 years in most developing countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The culture of poor patronage of health services for regular antenatal care or even postnatal assessment is pervasive. Pregnant women who develop serious life threatening complication during the course of the pregnancy or during labour, often arrive late at the health facility after the failure of traditional practitioners to remedy the situation resulting sometimes in the death of the expectant mothers. Sub-Saharan African countries also suffer the double tragedy of high infant and under-five mortality, due to poor prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was adopted to explore the knowledge, perception and utilization of maternal and child health services by reproductive women. A researcher administered questionnaire was used to elicit information about MCH services from 200 respondents age 14 to 49 years in Akpabuyo local government area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Results: Knowledge about MCH services was high (73%), however the overall utilization of ANC and PNC services were lower, (69.5%) and (61.5%) respectively. Moreover, the overall deliveries attended by skilled providers was 51%, while deliveries outside the formal health system was 49%. Conclusion: The low patronage of the formal health system where early and appropriate interventions can be instituted to address high risk pregnancies or even difficult labour was low, the unacceptably high rate of deliveries outside the formal MCH care system portends great risk to the women. Community-level advocacy, intensive health education and behavior change communication is required to engender positive change towards better patronage of MCH services.