Socio-Economic Determinants of Utilization of Programme Interventions to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Nigeria

Dominic O. Azuh, Covenant University, Nigeria
Emmanuel Amoo, Covenant University, Nigeria

Twenty three years after the safe motherhood initiative, maternal mortality is still soaring, as more than half a million women die from pregnancy and related causes annually. Improving programme utilization would likely reduce the incidence of maternal deaths in Nigeria. The paper examines the socio-economic factors influencing maternal mortality. The study used face-to-face structured interview and focus group discussion with a two level analytical approach capturing both the qualitative data and information from the discussion segment. The findings show that mother’s age, education, health centre distance, occupation and husband occupation are significant enhancers of antenatal clinic registration and utilization of medicare facilities among mothers at ‘p values’ of 0.002, 0.001, 0.007 and 0.000 respectively. While the paper provided a guide for informed decision on maternal health services in the country, it also suggests compulsory maternal health education and job empowerment for the prospective mothers.