Feng Yuanxu, Ahuru Rolle Remi, Anser Muhammad Khalid, Osabohien Romanus, Ahmad Munir, Efegbere Akpojubaro Henry
Business School, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria.
Afr J Reprod Health. 2021 Dec;25(6):143-154. doi: 10.29063/ajrh2021/v25i6.15.
We assessed the influence of wealth and selected socio-demographic characteristics on antenatal care (ANC) utilization among 900 women within the reproductive ages across eight rural communities in Delta State, Southern part of Nigeria. Both descriptive and predictive analyses were undertaken. The characteristics of the women were presented with the use of simple proportion and frequency. The Chi-square test was used to examine the factors that were significantly associated with a minimum of eight antenatal care contacts. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine factors that explained a minimum of eight antenatal contacts. Women on the highest wealth quintile were 2.6 times more likely to meet the recommended number of 8 ANC visits (aOR: 2.6, 95% CI: 0.63-3.86). This finding has an implication for the free maternal care policy currently in operation in Delta State. It implies that the policy has not succeeded in redressing problems of financial barriers in access to maternal care. The lesson, therefore, is that the policy of free maternal care is not enough, but if the government desires to maximize the dividend from the policy, then it must go beyond absolving pregnant women of ANC charges to provide other form of supports.
我们评估了财富及选定的社会人口学特征对尼日利亚南部三角州八个农村社区900名育龄妇女产前保健（ANC）利用情况的影响。我们进行了描述性分析和预测性分析。使用简单比例和频率展示了这些妇女的特征。卡方检验用于检验与至少八次产前保健接触显著相关的因素。多变量逻辑回归用于检验解释至少八次产前接触的因素。处于最高财富五分位数的妇女进行8次推荐产前检查的可能性是其他妇女的2.6倍（调整后比值比：2.6，95%置信区间：0.63 - 3.86）。这一发现对三角州目前实施的免费孕产妇保健政策具有启示意义。这意味着该政策未能成功解决获得孕产妇保健方面的经济障碍问题。因此，经验教训是，免费孕产妇保健政策是不够的，但如果政府希望最大限度地从该政策中获益，那么就必须超越免除孕妇的产前保健费用，提供其他形式的支持。
