Knowledge, attitude, and practice of emergency contraception among medical doctors in Port Harcourt

Background: The contraceptive prevalence in our environment is very low with attendant increase in unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. The use of emergency contraception (EC) in women with unprotected intercourse could be the only option that can avoid the unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion.Objective: The objective was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of emergency contraception among doctors in Port Harcourt.Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study of medical doctors practising in Port Harcourt. Self administered questionnaires were completed by 100 participants randomly selected from medical doctors present at a general meeting in January 2006. Data collation and analysis was carried out with Microsoft Excel XP software and presented as percentages and proportions.Results: The awareness of EC was high among the doctors in Port Harcourt. However knowledge about its use was poor. Although 98% of them were aware of emergency contraception, 58% could not identify correctly any type. Oral mifepristone (RU486) was the most recognized form of EC identified by 38% of the doctors. Rape would be the commonest indication for emergency contraception as reported by 76% of the doctors, ahead of missed pills by 36% and incestuous sexual intercourse by 46% of the doctors. Postinor (levonorgestrel) given within 72 hours and IUCD inserted within 5 days of intercourse were the commonest forms of EC administered by 26% each of the doctors interviewed.Conclusion: Although the awareness of EC is high among the doctors in Port Harcourt, the knowledge and use of EC is low. Therefore there is a need to improve both education and attitude to use of emergency contraception among medical doctors in Port Harcourt

Awareness and Practice of Emergency Contraception Among Students of University of Port Harcourt, South-South Nigeria.

The awareness and utilization of contraceptives especially emergency contraceptives (EC) among youths and others in the reproductive age group is an important step in preventing unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of emergency contraception among undergraduate university students.Methods : A self administered questionnaire was distributed to 240 randomly selected undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, South- South Nigeria, in July 2006. Information sought included their sociodemographic characteristics, awareness, perception and use of emergency contraception.Results: Two hundred and forty questionnaires were distributed, while 225 were appropriately filled and retrieved giving a response rate of 93.8% The age of the respondents ranged between 16 to 40 years, with a mean age of 23.2 years. Up to 86.3% of the respondents were sexually active. One hundred and thirty (57.7%) had knowledge of EC, while only 30 (13.3%) had ever used EC. Of the respondents who were aware of EC the most common sources of information on EC were friends in 54(41.2%) and hospital personnel/clinics in 51 (39.2%).Conclusion: The awareness and use of emergency contraception among students of University of Port Harcourt, South- South Nigeria, is unacceptably low. There is therefore an urgent need to improve the student's knowledge and use of EC through education and enlightenment of this vulnerable group in our environment.Key words: Emergency contraception, awareness and practice, university students, Nigeria

Perineal Trauma in Port Harcourt, Souh-South Nigeria

Background: Morbidities associated with vaginal deliveries are many but under reported. Where data exist, women had been shown to suffer myriad of problems following vaginal birth. These include immediate trauma to the perineum from episiotomy and perineal laceration at vaginal deliveries. These women may also have other problems such as pelvic pain, uterine descent and incontinence to urine, stool or flatus as well as sexual, social and psychological dysfunction on the long term. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and predisposing factors of perineal trauma amongst women delivering at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Methods: A retrospective study of vaginal births between 1st January 2005 and 31st December 2007 at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital was done. The delivery register at the labour ward was used to identify the parturient with injury to the perineum following a vaginal birth. Data was retrieved from their case notes, entered into an excel spreadsheet and analyzed with SPSS version 17 for Microsoft windows. Results: A total of 2429 (53.8%) out of 5422 parturient had trauma to their perineum at delivery. Episiotomies were in 1811 (40.1%) parturient and perineal tears occurred in 697 (13.7%) parturient. While the prevalence of episiotomy decreased with parity, the incidence of perineal tears was found to increase with parity. Assisted vaginal deliveries and high parity were risk factors for episiotomy and perineal tear respectively. Conclusion: The perineal trauma prevalence rate of 53.8% in Port Harcourt is unacceptably highly. Nulliparity, vaginal breech and instrumental vaginal deliveries are the major risk factors for perineal trauma. Keywords: Perineal Trauma, Perineal Tear, Episiotomy, Vaginal delivery, Port Harcour

Live birth after in vitro fertilization (ivf) in a 53 year old woman: A case report

To report a case of live birth in a 53 year old woman following assisted reproductive techniques (ART). A 53-year-old civil servant who registered for antenatal care at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) in 2008 at 17 weeks gestation is presented. She had conceived after 4 years of infertility follow treatment by intracytoplasmic sperm injection/embryo transfer (ICSI-ET) using her husband's sperm and donor eggs. The pregnancy was complicated by breech presentation at term. She was delivered of a healthy live male infant by elective caesarean section at 38 weeks of gestation. The puerperium was complicated by hypertension, which was managed appropriately. Infertility in women of advanced reproductive age can be successfully treated with donor oocytes in Nigeria. Antenatal supervision and delivery by skilled attendants is the key to achieve favourable outcome

Patients' Perception of Antenatal Care at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital

Background: Antenatal care is considered an important aspect of maternity care and is generally believed to positively influence the outcome of pregnancies. This reason informs the regular antenatal attendance by expectant mothers. This study aims to determine the views of expectant mothers on the value and benefits of antenatal care and their satisfaction with the service delivery at the routine antenatal clinic. Methodology: Five hundred randomly selected antenatal clinic attendees at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital were surveyed using a pre­tested interviewer administered questionnaire from September to November 2005. Four hundred and forty four of the five hundred questionnaires were retrieved for analysis. Data management was done using SPSS 11 for Windows® statistical software.Results: Most of the respondents (98.4%) thought antenatal care has benefits and could list at least one benefit. Majority (87.4%) felt the traditional antenatal clinic visits were adequate while 3.8% felt they were too frequent. More than two-thirds (72.3%) waited beyond 2 hours before consultation with the doctors. Fear of possible industrial strikes which disrupts health services in the Teaching Hospital compelled patients to have parallel antenatal care with other health facilities. Twenty eight respondents (6.3%) felt the members of staff have a very hostile attitude towards antenatal patients. Conclusion: Expectant mothers agree there are health benefits derived from antenatal care. They are satisfied with the traditional antenatal visits. However, long waiting time, industrial strikes and hostile staff attitude were the negative perceptions of the antenatal care in our hospital. Keywords: Antenatal care, Health benefits, Negative perceptions

Domestic Violence in Pregnancy among Antenatal Attendees at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt

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