Utilization of Antenatal and Postnatal Care Services Among Adolescents and Young Mothers in Rural Communities in SouthWestern Nigeria

Antenatal and postnatal care services have been found to be a proximate determinant of maternal outcomes as they enable early detection of at risk-mothers and provision of prevention services. However, factors affecting the utilization of antenatal and postnatal care services among young mothers in rural settings are poorly documented. A community based cross-sectional study was carried out among parturient adolescent and young women selected through a 4-stage sampling procedure. A pretested interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect information on mother’s socio-demographics and use of maternal health care services. Data collected was analysed using Chi-square test and binary logistic regression. Almost half (47.9%) had given birth to only one child. Only 45.4% of the mothers attended four Antenatal care sessions. The mean gestational age at booking was 19.5± 4.8 weeks and the mean number of ANC visits was 3.6±1.1visits. Overall the proportion of young mothers who accessed antenatal care at least once was 86.2% and postnatal was (5.8%). However less than half attended at least 4 full ANC services. Unskilled working mothers are 3 times less likely to attend post-natal care services (OR=0.34, 95% CI=0.12-0.97) while those delivered by caesarean section were 5 times more likely to attend post natal services (OR=4.9, 95% CI= 1.6 – 14.8). The findings suggest low utilization of full antenatal and postnatal services are related to personal health and economic factors, and indicates the need for increase awareness campaign on the benefits of these services to improve uptake.