Search

Obstetric fistula is a life transforming event resulting in embodied biographical disruption. Survivors suffer myriad long‐term physical and emotional consequences. This paper is an account of a narrative inquiry, conducted with 15 fistula survivors in North‐central, Nigeria, who described how their identities had been transformed by their condition. A narrative therapeutic approach, using Frank's 'chaos, restitution and quest' typology, was used to map their recovery narratives. 'Chaos', described by Frank as the opposite of restitution, dominated, with women losing hope of recovery. Women's shift towards 'restitution' began with treatment, but inadequate health‐care access often delayed this process. In their quest narratives, women's life and identify changes enabled them to derive meaning from their experience of obstetric fistula within the context of their own lives. The findings highlight socio‐structural factors raising the risk of obstetric fistula, which in turn causes biographical disruption and hampers sufferers' treatment and recovery. Rehabilitation should include income‐generating skills to bring succour to survivors, particularly those whose incontinence persists after repairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The sustenance of any household is tied to the well-being of the mother's health before, during, and after pregnancy. Maternal health care has continued a downward slope, increasing maternal mortality in rural communities in Nigeria. Presently, few empirical findings connect maternal healthcare facilities' use to mothers' well-being in Nigeria. Using maternal health facilities and the well-being of rural women is crucial in achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, and 3 (No poverty, zero hunger, good health, and well-being). Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the level of maternal healthcare utilization and its effect on mothers' well-being status among mothers in rural Nigeria. Methods: In this study, secondary data extracted from the Nigeria's 2018 National Demographic Health Survey was used. Data was analyzed with Multiple correspondence analysis, Fuzzy set analysis, and Extended ordered logit model. Results: Women in rural Nigeria were moderate users of maternal health care services and had moderate well-being indices (0.54 ± 0.2, 0.424 ± 0.2, respectively). Mothers' moderate well-being status was increased by using maternal health care facilities, having a larger household, and having mothers who worked exclusively in agriculture. Conclusion: We concluded that mothers in rural Nigeria use maternal healthcare facilities moderately, and their well-being level was improved using maternal healthcare facilities. Therefore, Nigeria's Ministry of Health should raise awareness about the vitality of mothers using health care services before, during, and after pregnancy. In order to promote greater female participation in full-scale agricultural production, it is imperative for the Nigerian government to allocate substantial resources in the form of subsidies and incentives. The Nigerian government should source these resources from various channels, including expanded development cooperation. Additionally, policymakers should focus on designing developmental programmes specifically tailored for rural households and the health sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most maternal deaths are preventable, as the healthcare solutions to prevent or manage complications are well known, yet the global burden is still high in many developing countries, including Nigeria. Although access to healthcare services is the right of every woman around the globe, irrespective of economic position and social group but there is still a low level of maternal health care seeking behavior that is compounded by the extremely low skilled attendants especially in low and middle-income countries. Objective: To assess the maternal healthcare utilization among women of child-bearing ages attending out-patient clinics in all Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Outstations in Anambra State, South-East, Nigeria. Methodology: After obtaining approval from the ethics and research committees in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, a cross-sectional survey of 300 consenting women who met the eligibility criteria was conducted. They were selected by systematic random sampling from 15th February to 15th March, 2021. Data collection was by the use of a self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed using the statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The level of significance for this study was set at P < 0.05 for all analyses. Results: A total of 300 women with a mean age and standard deviation of 29.4±0.7 years participated in the study. The proportion of respondents who utilized the health care facilities was 252 (84.67%), while 12.67% attended maternity homes and 2.66% preferred to stay at home. Conclusion: Many women did utilize the health care facilities and utilization was influenced by their level of education. Health awareness campaigns should be conducted at the community level to raise the women's level of understanding about the importance of utilization of maternal health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]