Ibrahim Kheyre Mohamed1, Anisa Abdikadir Hussein1, Meymuun Khadar Ibraahin1, Ladan Abdi Hussien1, Abdiaziz Abdisamed Abdisalan1, Mohamud Abukar1,2,3*, Munira Abdiladhif Mohamed Jawaani2, and Saffa Smart2,3,4
1Department of Nursing, University of Southern Somalia, Baidoa, Southwest State, Somalia; 2Hakaba Institute for Research & Training, Baidoa, Southwest, Somalia; 3Department of Health Sciences, St Clements Private University, Lausanne, Switzerland; and 4Directorate of Hospital and Ambulance Services, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone.
*Correspondence: m.abukar@uss.edu.so (Mohamud Abukar, Department of Health Sciences, St Clements Private University, Lausanne, Switzerland).
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ABSTRACT
Although there are several accessible healthcare services in hospitals and other designated healthcare facilities, there are studies that reveal mothers’ little or lack of utilization of the services to the full potential of the facilities. For instance, antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) services are offered in many health facilities in the district of Baidoa to improve the healthcare of the mother and her baby. Still, mothers’ use of the services is assumed to be low, particularly after the first visit or two visits. Considering that assumption, this study explores how mothers access their ANC and PNC services; whether they complete the required visits, and reasons related to the completion or incompletion of the recommended visits. The study focuses on mothers registered for ANC and PNC services at Darussalam Mother Child Health (MCH) Center in Baidoa, Southwest State of Somalia. A close-ended survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 50 mothers accessing ANC and PNC services at Darussalam MCH in Baidoa City. Where further explanation was needed, an open-ended question was asked for the participants to express their opinions and personal experiences. The results reveal that 64% of surveyed mothers were attending ANC services while 36% were visiting the health facility to receive PNC services. More than 56% were unemployed, 30% self-employed, and 14% were employed by the administration of the government of the Southwest State. Unlike other studies that demonstrate mothers’ low attendance and missing scheduled appointments for their ANC and PNC visits, the current study reveals that a majority of 82% were visiting the MCH on schedule, expressing various reasons leading to their promptness. Despite most of the available literature supporting low-income mothers in underdeveloped countries’ low accessibility to health services such as ANC and PNC, this study provides a gleam of hope in that many women are attending their ANC and PNC appointments to realize the benefits of the services for themselves and their baby.
Keywords: ANC, Baidoa, Healthcare, MCH, Mothers’ accessibility, PNC, and Southwest State of Somalia.
Citation: Mohamed IK, Hussein AA, Ibraahin MK, Hussien LA, Abdisalan AA, Abukar M, Jawaani MAM, and Smart S. (2023). Mothers’ accessibility to ANC and PNC services: a case study in Baidoa, Southwest State of Somalia, Eur. J. Med. Health Sci., 5(5), 194-203. https://doi.org/10.34104/ejmhs.023.01940203
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