Abstract

Health information with its usage intensifies awareness, influences the attitude and knowledge for peopleís health improvement. It is against this backdrop that this study assessed maternal health information usage among female farmers in some Ibarapa communities of Oyo State. This study employed a multistage sampling procedure to select 116 female farmers of childbearing age. A well-structured interview guide was used to obtain primary data on respondentsí socioeconomic characteristics, sources of information, availability and utilization of maternal health information, and challenges faced in seeking maternal health information in the study area. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, and mean score. Results show that respondentsí mean age and household size were 35 years and 5 persons respectively. Respondentsí sources of information were friend/ family (86.2%) and health officers (83.6%), while couplesí blood group match information (2.53), foetusí development and growth (2.59) and family planning /birth spacing (2.85) were the identified available maternal health information during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum respectively. Similarly, respondents used maternal health information on coupleís blood group match information (2.47), maternal health nutrition information (2.52) and neo-natal infections (2.63) during pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum respectively. However, lack of knowledge regarding disseminated health information ( 2.14) and health facility charges ( 1.97) were the major constraints encountered in using maternal health information. This study therefore recommended that Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Health Insurance Scheme (HIS) should be promoted to reduce cost of health services.

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