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Introduction: Many developing countries are characterized by rapid population growth, which is partly attributed to high fertility rates, high birth rates, accompanied by steady declines in death rates, low contraceptive use and high but declining mortality rate. AIM: To determine the factors influencing family planning method use among women of reproductive age in urban communities of Imo state, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was a community based descriptive cross-sectional study involving 560 women of reproductive age who met the inclusion criteria and were selected using the multistage sampling technique. The data were collected using a pretested, semi-structured and interviewer administered questionnaire and were analyzed using EPI-INFO version 3.2.1. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results:The mean age of the respondents was 32.7 ± 7.7 years with most of the women (99.1%) being aware of family planning. The common methods known were; pills (65.2%), injections (62.5%), condoms (61.3%) and natural family planning methods (49.5%). The prevalence of ever use and current use of family planning was 54.1% and 35.1% respectively and the commonest method ever (36%) and currently (26%) used was the condom. The factors found to significantly influence family planning method use in the study were: age of women, religion, family size, number of male children, monthly income, being able to access and pay for family planning services without partners financial support, contraceptive knowledge, prior discussion of family planning with part-

BackgroundWomen and children constitute a large proportion of any population. They are the most vulnerable to morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. In many situations the problem of poor maternal and child health stems from the poor use of available services even when they are not of optimum quality. This study seeks to describe the patterns of utilization of Maternal and Child health (MCH) services in a rural area of Enugu State, and identify factors that are associated with and responsible for determining them.MethodsThe study used a cross sectional analytic design. Pretested semi structured questionnaires were administered by interviewers to 602 women from a rural community in Enugu state, South east Nigeria. Two focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 8–10 men/ women each were conducted to identify factors affecting service utilization. Chi square analysis was done to identify factors associated with Maternal and Child Health services utilization. Logistic regression was used to identify determinants of utilization patterns. N vivo software was used to analyze findings of the FGDs.ResultsThe study revealed that increasing age, educational level, monthly income, number of children and occupation of both women and their husbands were associated with increased MCH service utilization. Average monthly income (OR: 1.317, p = 0.048, CI: 0.073–0.986) and number of children (OR: 1.196, p < 0.01,CI: 1.563–7.000) were determinants of increased use of child care services while educational level (OR: 0.495, p < 0.001, CI: 1.244–2.164) and age (OR: 0.115, p < 0.001, CI: 0.838–0.948) determined better use of delivery and family planning services respectively.ConclusionsImproved use of MCH services is related to socio economic challenges women face such as illiteracy and low income. Furthermore, the way health facilities and their staff are perceived by rural women affect how they use some of these services and should be considered in programs which seek to reduce maternal and child mortality.Behavioral change programs with high local content need to be implemented within rural areas especially among younger, illiterate women .

Background: Lack of knowledge of obstetric danger signs, resulting in inability to recognize and probably react to the needs for accessing quality health care remains a major cause of preventable maternal deaths. Objective: To determine the knowledge of obstetric danger signs and its determinants amongst women of reproductive age in rural communities in Nigeria. Materials and methods: A total of 602 women of child bearing age were studied. Data collection employed a pretested, selfadministered structured questionnaire and was analysed using statistical package for social sciences version 17. Bivariate analysis was done to identify factors associated with good levels of knowledge of danger signs. Logistic regression was used to identify determinants of a high knowledge score among women. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results were presented in tables and summary indices. Results: Majority of respondents had a poor level of knowledge of obstetric danger signs 286(47.5%). The most mentioned symptom was vaginal bleeding; 358(59.5%). Factors associated with knowledge of obstetric danger signs include: age (p=0.000), marital status (p=0.000), educational level attained (p=0.049) and parity (p=0.000). Attaining tertiary level of education (OR: 3.906), teaching profession (OR: 15.104) self-employed business engagement (OR: 16.144) and a high level of knowledge of disease causation (OR: 3.336) were predictors of the level of knowledge of danger signs among them. Conclusion: We recommend that effective and sustained health education and behavioral change programs with high local content be instituted in our rural communities.

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