Background:Available evidence shows that only a small proportion of Nigerian women access postnatal care and practice exclusive breastfeeding. Given that both interventions are critical to the survival of both the mother and the new born, it is important to identify factors that militate against an effective postnatal care and exclusive breastfeeding in the country, in order to scale up services. The aim was to determine the major barriers to postnatal care and exclusive breastfeeding among urban women in southeastern Nigeria.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional survey of 400 urban market women using semistructured questionnaires and focus group discussions.Results:Out of 400 women interviewed, 365 (91.7%) attended postnatal clinic. Lack of knowledge about postnatal care services (42.2%; n = 14), distant location of the hospitals (36.4%; n = 12) and feeling that postnatal visits was not necessary (21.1%; n = 7) were the main reasons for non-attendance to postnatal clinic. With respect to exclusive breastfeeding, 143 (35.9%) of the women practiced EBF. The main reasons for nonpractice of EBF were that EBF was very stressful (26.2%; n = 67), mother's refusal (23.5%; n = 60), and the feeling that EBF was not necessary (18.1%; n = 46). Thirty five (13.7%) of the women were constrained by time while the husband's refusal accounted for 1.5% (n = 3) of the reasons for nonpractice of exclusive breastfeeding.Conclusion:Poor knowledge and inaccessibility to health facilities were the main obstacles to postnatal care while the practice of exclusive breastfeeding was limited by the stress and mothers refusal.

A positive change in the attitude of health workers and the elimination of fee-for-service in emergency obstetric care would reduce type 3 delays in public health facilities, and consequently reduce maternal mortality.

Cervical cancer remains the commonest gynaecological cancer among women in the developing countries. The records of all the histologically confirmed cervical cancer patients managed in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, over a 5 year period were analysed for the clinical presentation and histological pattern of the malignancy. A total of 75 cases of cervical cancer were managed over the period giving an incidence of 65.2% of all gynaecological cancers and 13.4% of all gynaecological admissions. The majority of the patients were grandmultiparous women (81.3%) with a mean parity of 6.8. The modal age range was 60-69 years (38.7%) and the majority (94.7%) of the patients belonged to the low socioeconomic class. Squamous cell carcinoma of varying differentiation (89.3%) was the commonest histological type seen and adenocarcinoma accounted for only 8.0%. The common clinical features were post-menopausal bleeding (84.0%), vaginal discharge (72.0%), contact bleeding (63.9%) and abdominal pain (56.2%). Most (89.3%) of the patients presented late, in advanced stages of the disease, and almost all (97.3%) were referred for radiotherapy. The incidence of cervical cancer is high in our environment. Community sensitisation and provision of free cervical screening is recommended for early detection and treatment.

One in four pregnancies worldwide is voluntarily terminated. Approximately 20 million terminations are performed under unsafe conditions, mostly in developing countries with restrictive abortion laws. A total of 100 consecutive abortion-seekers were interviewed, to ascertain their knowledge and perceptions on the Nigerian Abortion Law. The majority (55.0%) of the respondents were students. Most of them (97%) had at least secondary education and the majority (62.0%) were within the 20-24 years age range. Only 31.0% of the women interviewed were aware of the Nigerian Abortion Law. While 16% perceived the law as being restrictive, 2% opined that' it was alright'; 1% perceived it as very restrictive and 12% had no opinion on the abortion law. Knowledge of the abortion law had no significant relationship with either the educational level of the respondent or the number of previous pregnancy terminations and overall demand for abortion services. It is necessary to ensure a wide dissemination of the abortion law and its provisions to the Nigerian public, in order to arm them with the necessary information to participate actively in debates on abortion law reforms.

ObjectiveTo determine the activities of oxidative stress markers and lipid profiles of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, Nigeria.MethodsThis was a nested case-control study consisting of 50 PCOS patients and 50 healthy women of the same age range without any evidence of PCOS. The study measured the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), total antioxidant capacity (TAC); concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), as well as high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) using standard spectrophotometric methods. Anthropometric indices were also assessed. P-values of <0.05 were taken to be statistically significant.ResultsThere were significantly higher levels of MDA (P=0.002), lower activity of SOD (P<0.001), and lower TAC (P=0.001) in PCOS patients when compared with the controls. There were higher concentrations of TC (P=0.017) and LDL-C P=0.012) in PCOS patients than in controls. Significant differences were not observed between the 2 groups in terms of the activity of GSH-Px, as well as the concentrations of HDL-C and TG. The body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-hip ratio were all significantly higher in PCOS patients.ConclusionThis study revealed higher levels of MDA, as well as lower activity of SOD and TAC, among PCOS patients. Furthermore, there were higher levels of TC and LDL-C among the PCOS patients. Hence, monitoring these parameters may improve the clinical management of PCOS.