| dc.description.abstract | The study assessed factors influencing the utilization of postnatal services among women of reproductive age in Lwamata Sub County in Kiboga district.
The main objective is to determine the factors influencing the utilization of postnatal visits among women of reproductive age in Lwamata sub county-Kiboga district at community level, institutional, personal and district level with special reference to ANC, skilled attendance at delivery and PNC.
Methodology. Cross- sectional study design was used involving both qualitative and quantitative methods and was conducted in Lwamata sub county–Kiboga district. The respondents were selected using simple random sampling, supervisors with response rate of 55.5% at the time of data collection in 2014. Trained research assistants were involved in the study. Data from completed questionnaires was cleaned, captured, coded and entered into the computer using SPSS software version 20.0.
The study found that, the utilization of postnatal services in health centers was low. Only 32% of the mothers interviewed utilized postnatal services within the first six weeks post delivery. The significant factors that were found to influence utilization of postnatal services include: level of Education of the mother, awareness of postnatal services; long distance from the health facilities and occupation of the mother.
It was recommended that, government should locate health services as close as possible to the community where the people live. This could be done by training more midwives who serve as the critical link between communities. The ministry of health has to make a comprehensive plan to overcome informational barriers by increasing the women’s understanding and awareness of the need to go for, and availability of postnatal care services. In addition, women should also be educated about the risks they face, signs of danger and their right and the need to have decision making powers over their own health | en_US |
