Adequacy of technical facilities for maternal health care delivery in public secondary and tertiary facilities in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortalities and morbidities in the world, and the need to address these challenges continues to engage the attention of relevant stakeholders but very little attention has focused on technological resources within the maternal health research agenda. This study aims to identify and determine the adequacy of the key equipment for emergency obstetric care (EmOC) services in public-sector secondary and tertiary health facilities in Osun State, Southwest, Nigeria. Using a two-stage probability sampling procedure, 7 health facilities based in 6 randomly selected Local government areas (LGAs) were involved in the study. Data were obtained through the use of primary and secondary sources. For primary sources, a questionnaire was administered to 112 health workers and the study also utilized a checklist for equipment inventory. For secondary sources we reviewed existing hospital records on technology acquisition and maintenance. Relevant descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. Almost three-fifths (58.1%) of the health workers considered the technical facilities for the delivery of EmOC in their facilities as inadequate, the proportion of health workers with such opinion was significantly higher in secondary compare to tertiary facilities (60.0% vs 40.0%, p=0.003). The inventory review and use of the checklist also showed varying degree of inadequate technical facilities; none of the facilities had all the 26 equipment considered as essential for comprehensive EmOC in functional state. We concluded that the public sector facilities in Osun State have inadequate technical facilities for EmOC; addressing this technological challenge will be critical to improving maternal health outcomes and statistics in Nigeria.