5‑year retrospective review of instrumental vaginal deliveries in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Context: Instrumental vaginal deliveries are deliveries conducted using obstetric forceps or vacuum extractor and are an essential component of basic emergency obstetric care.Objective: To determine the rate of instrumental deliveries and their outcome over a 5‑year period (2013–2017) at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.Study Design and Methods: A 5‑year retrospective review of maternity delivery records. A survey of 16 resident doctors of the department was also done to determine their views on the rate of instrumental deliveries in the hospital.Results: During the study period, there were 6,754 deliveries; of these 109 (1.61%) were instrumental deliveries. Vacuum extractions accounted for 97 (88.99%) of the instrumental deliveries and there were only 12 (11.01%) forceps deliveries. The majority of the instrumental deliveries were carried out on booked women (78; 82.98%), with low parity (Para 1; 73.83%), term mothers (59.4%), and normal birth weight babies. There were only five stillbirths (4.59%), all of which were vacuum extractions and were comparable to 4.5% among spontaneous vertex deliveries and less than 6.2% among caesarean sections and 45.5% among breech deliveries. This was statistically significant, χ2 = 114.03, P < 0.001. Most of the resident doctors cited lack of proper training as responsible for low rate of instrumental deliveries.Conclusion: The rate of instrumental vaginal deliveries in the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital is low with adverse consequences on the training of resident doctors. There is thus need to prioritize training on this life‑saving skills.Keywords: Instrumental vaginal deliveries; neonatal outcome; trends; Uy

Assessment of Survivors’ Perceptions of Crises and Retrenchments in the Nigeria Banking Sector

Using the Neo Liberal and Organizational Justice theories as the theoretical framework, this study assesses the perceptions of bank employees who survived of the crises and retrenchment that swept across the Nigerian banking sector. Four banks were purposively selected for the study. Two out of these four banks, namely: First Bank Nigeria Plc. (FBN) and United Bank for Africa Plc. (UBA), are among the old generation banks (OGB), while the other two: Access Bank and Eco Bank are new generation banks (NGB). A total of 256 employees of these banks selected through the simple random sampling technique constituted the samples for the study, while questionnaires and in-depth interviews (IDIs) were used as data collection instruments. Frequency percentage distribution formed the main tool of statistical analysis. Findings revealed that the popular perception among the survivors both in in NGB and OGB is that the crises were aggravated by poor corporate governance, and corrupt practices by the Executive Management of some banks. Also, though survivors perceived the reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria in response to the crises as having functioned to quell the crises, a large proportion of them, 83% in OGB, and 82% in NGB still blamed the crises for the large-scale job losses in the sector. Findings further revealed that these surviving employees, mainly those of NGB indicated not having control over the retrenchment procedures and outcomes. Consequently, they perceived the retrenchment process as unfairly executed, leaving them with a sense of uncertainty and job insecurity. The study concluded that there is clear need for bank management to display integrity in retrenchment decisions while also maintaining fairness in dealing with survivors.  Keywords: Crises, Retrenchment, Survivors, Perception, Banking Sector.

Self-Medication: potential risks and hazards among pregnant women in Uyo, Nigeria

Introduction: There is increasing evidence that self-medications among pregnant women are common in many developing countries. Despite the adverse impact on pregnancy, there are few programs available for their control. The objective of this study was to assess the level of self-medication amongst Nigerian pregnant women in order to determine possible harmful effects on fetus. Methods: Five hundred and eighteen 518 pregnant women, aged between 18 and 40 years, drawn from three General hospitals in Akwa Ibom State were assessed for self-medication and substance abuse using an instrument, adapted from a modified form of 117-item self-report questionnaire based on the WHO guidelines for students’ substance use survey. Results: Of the 518 pregnant women assessed, 375 (72.4%) indulged in one form of self-medication or the other; 143 (27.6%) used only drugs prescribed from the antenatal clinic. A total of 157 (41.9%) pregnant women self-medicate fever/pain relievers; 47 (9.1%) mixture of herbs and other drugs; 15 (4.0%) sedatives; 13 (3.5%) alcohol; while 5 (1.3%) used kolanuts. Reasons for using these substances range from protection from witches and witchcrafts, preventing pregnancy from coming out, for blood; poor sleep, fever and vomiting and infections. There was a significant difference in the rate of using analgesics (X2=9.43, p=0.001); and antibiotic (X2=4.43, p=0.001) among pregnant women who were highly educated compared to those with little or no education. However, the level of education has no impact in the usage of native herbs. Conclusion: This study shows that self-medication is common among pregnant women in our environment. There is need for adequate education of pregnant women during antenatal clinics on the potential danger of self-medication so as to prevent child and maternal morbidity and mortality.Pan African Medical Journal 2012; 13:1

Unsafe abortion among secondary school girls in a local authority in South-South Nigeria

Background: Voluntary abortion for social reasons is illegal in Nigeria; however, the practice remains mostly clandestine and unsafe with varying consequences and determinants yet to be studied in all settings.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to assess the prevalence, practice and determinants of termination of pregnancy amongst 119 female Secondary School students in South-South Nigeria.Results: The prevalence of abortion was 57.1%. Most of the students were above 18years (58.8%), Christian (95.8%) and of rural residence (66.4%). While 58.8% had experienced an unwanted pregnancy, 61.4% had used some form of contraceptive with condom being the commonest (39.5%). Most (89.1%) have heard of abortions while 67.6% and 16.2% have had abortions once and twice respectively with the top reasons for abortion being that they were still in school (33.8%), too young (25.9%) and to avoid shame or stigma associated with the pregnancy (11.7%). Dilation and curettage was the predominant method employed (40.2%) mainly by medical doctors (34.1% and pharmacists (35.6%) while 51 (75%) had post-abortal complaints such as pain (41.2%) and bleeding (21.6%). There was a significant association between having an abortion and place of residence (rural more than urban), (p=0.04), being pregnant more than once (p<0.001), mothers` level of education (p=0.03), fathers` level of education (p=0.02) and mothers occupation (p=0.04).Conclusions: The prevalence of abortion is high and complicated by high morbidity rate despite a higher contraceptive prevalence rate whose major determinants were the socio-demographic characteristics of the parents. There is a need for early sex education from parents as this can influence abortion perception and practice in later years

LIVESTOCK EXTENSION IMPERATIVES OF UTILIZING MATURED BROILER BEAK AS COMPOSITE FEED RESOURCE

ABSTRACT A study evaluated the livestock extension imperatives of utilization of matured broiler beak as composite feed resource. The study adopted both laboratory and qualitative research procedures to generate information based on specific objectives of the study. The proximate analysis of the nutritional composition of matured beak was investigated. Awareness of the feed millers on the utilization potentials of broiler beak by-product for macro elements and the livestock nutritional extension imperatives for the matured broiler as composite feed resources were analysed. Fifty(50) Amogbyn day-old birds reared to eight weeks with average mean weights between 2.75kg and 3.30kg were used for this research under good management practices. These matured broilers were slaughtered and their beaks extracted, processed and digested to obtain digesta which was read with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS;BUCK 200A Model). Calcium absorption mode was read at a wavelength of 422.7NM while Mg absorption was read at wavelength of 362.4NM. Ca concentration range of 0.656-0.924 also varied from Magnesium concentration range of 0.066-0.269. The study revealed that there is a marked variability in the concentration of macro-minerals in the beaks of the same species. However, 36% of the study population was relatively high in concentration of Calcium and Magnesium. Despite their seeming small concentrations in the beaks, Calcium and Magnesium can still be used at composite level to replace limestone in alternative feed source for minerals. Therefore, the use of beak is promising and further investigation into its composite feed resource status for other macro minerals is recommende

Antiulcerogenic Activity Of Ethanolic Leaf Extract Of Lasianthera Africana Masses.

The effect of ethanolic leaf extract of Lasianthera Africana on experimentally induced ulcer was studied in rats. The extract (1000 3000mg/kg) inhibited ethanol-induced, indomethacin induced and reserpine induced ulcer models in a dose dependent fashion. The various degrees of inhibitions were statistically significant (p<0.01). The effect of the extract was comparable to that of the standard drugs used. Thus, Lasianthera africana extract demonstrated a good antiulcer activity which supports the antiulcer effect of this plant in traditional medicine

Antiulcerogenic Activity of Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Lasianthera Africana

The effect of ethanolic leaf extract of Lasianthera africana on experimentally induced ulcer was studied in rats. The extract (1000 – 3000mg/kg) inhibited ethanol-induced, indomethacin - induced and reserpine -induced ulcer models in a dose dependent fashion. The various degrees of inhibitions were statistically significant (p<0.01). The effect of the extract was comparable to that of the standard drugs used. Thus, Lasianthera africana extract demonstrated a good antiulcer activity which supports the antiulcer effect of this plant in traditional medicine

Attitude of antenatal attendees to people living with HIV/AIDS in Uyo, south-south Nigeria

Background: Stigmatization and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on the global efforts to control the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Due to fear of stigmatization and discrimination, many people are reluctant to undergo voluntary counseling and testing, infected individuals are often unwilling to disclose their status and some of them still engage in high-risk behaviours leading to increased transmission of the virus. Study design and setting: A study of the attitudes to people living with HIV/AIDS was carried out among antenatal clinic attendees at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital with the aim of developing site-specific information and counseling interventions to reduce stigmatization and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS. Information was elicited from 265 randomly selected women who booked for antenatal care between September and December 2005 with the use of a self-administered questionnaire. Results: 263 questionnaires were duly completed and analyzed. The mean age of the respondents was 27 ± 5.1 years, majority of them (52.1%) were either unemployed or unskilled workers and 42.9% of them had tertiary education. Awareness and knowledge of HIV/AIDS was high, (95.8%) and (86.7%) respectively. Majority of the respondents (55.6%) were also assessed as having a positive attitude to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). There was a statistically significant association between good knowledge of HIV/AIDS and a positive attitude to PLWHA (P=0.000) and a high educational status with a positive attitude to PLWHA (P=0.009). Conclusion: combating stigma and discrimination is an important process in controlling the epidemic. Specific information and counseling interventions aimed at dispelling misconceptions about HIV/AIDS should be reinforced