PATTERN AND PREDICTORS OF UTILIZATION OF MATERNAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES IN GOMBE STATE, NORTHEAST NIGERIA

Abstract

Maternal health encompasses the well-being of women from conception through pregnancy and the postpartum period. Progress in reducing maternal mortality has remained slow, where over 162,000 women die annually from preventable pregnancy-related causes due to poor utilization of skilled maternal health services. Ninety-nine percent of these maternal deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria, and Nigeria remains one of the two countries contributing to one-third of global maternal deaths, with Northern Nigeria showing the poorest indicators. This falls short of the SDG, which aim to reduce MMR to fewer than 70 per 100,000 live births. It is against this backdrop that this study was undertaken to assess the patterns and predictors of maternal health service utilization in Gombe State, Nigeria. The objectives were to assess the use of antenatal care (ANC), skilled delivery, and postnatal care (PNC), and to identify factors associated with service utilization among mothers of children under five. Methodology: a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 630 respondents selected through multistage sampling across the three senatorial zones of Gombe State. Data were collected using a pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 24, with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: findings indicate that education, age at last birth, religion, household income, and marital status are major individual-level predictors of maternal service use. While ANC uptake was high, utilization of skilled birth attendance and PNC remained lower. Conclusion: interventions should be targeted at improving factors influencing these predictors, with particular focus on less-educated, low-income, and rural women.