Preventing Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: A Human Rights Imperative

Maternal mortality is one of the greatest global threat to life expectancy of women and girls and the enjoyment of their right to life. It is estimated that 250 women and girls die every day as a result of complications during pregnancy and child birth. Out of this sordid global statistics, Nigeria shares a disproportionate burden of 40,000 maternal deaths per year. Despite advances made towards health care delivery, becoming pregnant is a very high risk experience for an average woman and girl in Nigeria due to the absence of human rights based approach to existing policies and interventions. This paper postulated that whereas access to appropriate and quality health care services are critical factors in reducing maternal mortality, the paradigm shift is the realization that health policies and interventions alone are not sufficient to combat the burden of maternal mortality in Nigeria. Rather, concerted efforts must be made to systematically guarantee to every women and girl the inalienable enjoyment of the full range of human rights, including right to health and life guaranteed in the Nigerian Constitution and other human rights treaties subscribed to by Nigeria

Spousal participation in labor and delivery in Nigeria

A male companion at antenatal care is unusual and spousal participation during labor and delivery in Nigeria is poor. This can be attributed to amongst other things the beliefs that labor is exclusively a women affair. Although there are few studies about male involvement in maternity care in Nigeria, no review has been conducted regarding spousal participation in labor and delivery. Therefore, majority of women desire their spouses as birth companions and attest to having emotional comfort and support when their spouses participate in their labor and delivery, the status and acceptability of spousal participation in labor and delivery in Nigeria is quite low due in part to socio-cultural drawbacks. This narrative review looks at existing research literatures identified through electronic sources such as Google Scholar, PubMed and EBSCO published in English between 1995 and 2013. The aim of this narrative review is to extract from these literatures the level of participation of Nigerian spouses in labor and delivery. Keys words used for the search include spouse, labor, delivery, Nigeria, maternal; childbirth and only English papers were included. Although presently weak, the spousal participation in labor and delivery in Nigeria should be encouraged and promoted as a deliberate health-care policy through the creation of an enabling environment and dissemination of information highlighting the pivotal role that spouses could play in labor and delivery

Health Systems Strengthening in Post Conflict Reconstruction: Reflection on Uganda

This article attempted to define health, health care and health systems and further discussed health reconstruction approaches and why it is important, particularly in post war situations and more specifically in the context of the post war health system development and strengthening in Uganda. In a bid to interrogate to what extent women’s health and gender perspectives have been integrated in post conflict reconstruction in Uganda, this article further adopted a gender lens to examine the health sector plans in Uganda

Spousal Presence as a Nonpharmacological Pain Management during Childbirth: A Pilot Study.

Background. Measures of spousal effect during parturient pain should take a tripartite approach involving the parturients, spouses, and midwives. Aim. To develop and validate three questionnaires measuring spousal presence in management of parturient pain in Nigeria. Methods. There are two phases: (1) development of questionnaires, Abuja Instrument for Midwives (AIM), Abuja Instrument for Parturient Pain (AIPP), and Abuja Instrument for Parturient Spouses (AIPS), utilizing literatures, Kuopio instrument for fathers (KIF) and expertise of health professionals, and (2) pilot study to validate the questionnaires which were administered in two hospitals in Nigeria: midwives (n = 10), parturients (n = 10), and spouses (n = 10).  Results. Internal consistency for the three questionnaires indicated Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.789 (AIM), 0.802 (AIPP), and 0.860 (AIPS), while test-retest reliability was r = 0.99 (AIM), r = 0.99 (AIPP), and r = 0.90 (AIPS). Conclusions. AIM, AIPP, and AIPS provide a means of investigating the effectiveness of spousal presence in management of parturient pain in Nigeria. However, further testing of each instrument is needed in a larger population to replicate the beneficial findings of AIMS, AIPP, and AIPS which can contribute rigor to future studies

Dengue virus is hyperendemic in Nigeria from 2009 to 2020: A contemporary systematic review

Backround: Data on Dengue virus (DENV) infection prevalence, geographic distribution and risk factors are necessary to direct appropriate utilization of existing and emerging control strategies. This study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence, risk factors of DENV infection and the circulating serotypes within Nigeria from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2020. Materials and methods: Twenty-one studies out of 2,215 available articles were eligible and included for this systematic review. Relevant articles were searched, screened and included in this study according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria. The risk of bias in primary studies was assessed by Cochrane's method. Heterogeneity of pooled prevalence was calculated using the chi-square test on Cochrane's Q statistic, which was quantified by I-square values. The random-effects analyses of proportions were used to determine the pooled prevalence of DENV antibodies, antigen and RNA from eligible studies. Results: Of these, 3 studies reported co-circulation of all the 4 serotypes, while 2 separately reported co-circulation of DENV-1 &2 and DENV-1 to -3. All the antibody-based studies had significantly high heterogeneity (I2 >90%, P 0.05). The pooled prevalence of DENV IgM, IgG, RNA, NS1 and neutralizing antibodies were 16.8%, 34.7%, 7.7%, 7.7% and 0.7%, respectively. Southeast Nigeria had the highest pooled DENV-IgG seropositivity, 77.1%. Marital status, gender, educational level and occupation status, the proximity of residence to refuse dumpsite, frequent use of trousers and long sleeve shirts were significantly associated with DENV IgG seropositivity (P <0.05). Conclusion: Based on these findings, it can be inferred that Nigeria is hyperendemic for Dengue fever and needs concerted efforts to control its spread within and outside the country

Assessment of the level of performance and impact of motivation on teachers at colleges of nursing and midwifery in Borno and Yobe States, Nigeria

Background: Employees’ satisfaction and motivation are major drivers of job productivity, especially among teachers of healthcare providers such as nurses and midwives. Objective of study: To determine factors that influence teachers’ motivation in Colleges of Nursing and Midwifery in Borno and Yobe states of Nigeria. Specifically, to assess the level of teachers’ motivation and their relationship with the performance of the teachers in the selected colleges. Materials and methods: This descriptive and quantitative questionnaire-based survey randomly (stratified) selected 120 participants (teachers) from the selected colleges. Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (MWMS) was used to assess the level and employees’ work motivation based on their psychological responses to different personal and organizational factors in the work situation and environment. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science Version 23.0. Results: Of all the study participants, 64 (54%) were males. Also, 77% of them were married while only 7% were single. Those between 36-40 years made the highest, 49 (41%) while those < 27 years were the least, 1 (1%). The majority of them, 85 (70%) had a bachelor’s degree, but a few, 3 (2%) had obtained a doctorate. Those with 6-10 years of teaching experience made the highest (34%). Of all the analyses made, the influence of infrastructure had the highest MWMS mean ± SD (29.22 ± 3.66), followed by the effects of Monetary rewards (26.77 ± 4.33), and the least was the influence of operational facilities (17.64 ± 2.81). The result of the study revealed that the level of staff performance in the study areas was relatively high, and the level of staff motivation was low. Conclusion: Based on the findings, prompt teacher promotion, lucrative payment and job satisfaction are the principal factors guiding the mind and perception of teachers as a vehicle for transmitting, generating and enhancing teacher’s job performance in selected colleges