Mothers’ Accessibility to ANC, and PNC Services: A Case Study in Baidoa, Southwest State of Somalia

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 in order to improve the healthcare of the mother and her baby, but mothers’ use of the services is assumed to be low, particularly after the first visit or two visits. Considering that assumption, this study attempts to explore 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 their 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 opinion 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 of 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 in order to realize the benefits of the services for themselves and their baby.