Texting for life: a mobile phone application to connect pregnant women with emergency transport and obstetric care in rural Nigeria.

Background: Difficulty in transportation to access skilled providers has been cited repeatedly as a major barrier to utilization of emergency obstetric care in Nigeria.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to describe the design, implementation, and outcomes of a mobile phone technology aimed at rapidly reaching rural Nigerian women who experience pregnancy complications with emergency transportation and access to providers.

Method: The project was implemented in 20 communities in two predominantly rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo State, in southern Nigeria, as part of a larger implementation project aimed at improving the access of rural women to skilled pregnancy care.

Effect of a multifaceted intervention on the utilisation of primary health for maternal and child health care in rural Nigeria: a quasi-experimental study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a set of multifaceted interventions designed to increase the access of rural women to antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum and childhood immunisation services offered in primary healthcare facilities.

Design: The study was a separate sample pretest-post-test quasi-experimental research.

Setting: The research was conducted in 20 communities and primary health centres in Esan South East and Etsako East Local Government Areas in Edo State in southern Nigeria PARTICIPANTS: Randomly selected sample of ever married women aged 15-45 years.

Why women utilize traditional rather than skilled birth attendants for maternity care in rural Nigeria: Implications for policies and programs.

Objective: Data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey indicate that many pregnant women in rural Nigeria use traditional birth attendants (TBAs) rather than skilled birth attendants (SBAs) for maternal health care. This is one factor that accounts for the persistently high rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria. The objective of this study was to identify the pervading reasons that women use TBAs for pregnancy care in rural Nigeria and to make recommendations for policy and programmatic reform.

Outcome of multifaceted interventions for improving the quality of antenatal care in Nigerian referral hospitals.

Background: The study was designed as quasi-experimental research to investigate the effectiveness of multifaceted interventions for improving the quality of antenatal care in referral hospitals in Nigeria. Two referral hospitals (the Central Hospital in Benin City, South-South Nigeria, and the General Hospital in Minna) served as intervention sites, while two hospitals in comparable locations, (the Central Hospital Warri and the Suleja Hospital Abuja) were the control hospitals.

Methods: Intervention activities consisted of the introduction of a strategic plan with the shared vision of reducing maternal mortality by 50% in 1 year in the hospitals; staff training and re-training; the establishment of an automated appointment system; composite health education involving couples and providers; advocacy with policymakers; and the implementation of maternal death reviews and surveillance.

Why rural women do not use primary health centres for pregnancy care: evidence from a qualitative study in Nigeria.

Background: While Primary Health Care has been designed to provide universal access to skilled pregnancy care for the prevention of maternal deaths in Nigeria, available evidence suggests that pregnant women in rural communities often do not use Primary Health Care Centres for skilled care. The objective of this study was to investigate the reasons why women do not use PHC for skilled pregnancy care in rural Nigeria.

Methods: Qualitative data were obtained from twenty focus group discussions conducted with women and men in marital union to elicit their perceptions about utilisation of maternal and child health care services in PHC centres.