Support from partners/fathers and families can play a significant role in a mother’s decision to initiate, continue or cease breastfeeding postnatally. This study systematically reviewed published studies to determine the impact of specific types of partner support on breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity. We used the 2015 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines for the review. Seven computerized bibliographic databases (Embase, ProQuest Central, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed and CINAHL) were searched. Of a total of 695 articles retrieved from the databases, seven studies met the inclusion criteria and reported on breastfeeding initiation, duration and exclusivity. Four of the seven studies found that partner support in the form of verbal encouragement to new mothers increased breastfeeding duration and exclusivity. Other types of partner supportive actions that led to improved breastfeeding behavior included sensitivity of the partner to the nursing mother’s needs, assistance in preventing and managing breastfeeding difficulties, and helping with household and child care duties. This review showed that specific supportive actions of partners/fathers in the community positively improved breastfeeding practices. To maximise the impact of breastfeeding policies and interventions among new mothers, breastfeeding programmes should consider the involvement of partners/fathers and their specific roles.

Comprehensive epidemiological data on prevalence, trends, and determinants of the use of unskilled birth attendants (traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and other unskilled birth attendants) are essential to policy decision-makers and health practitioners, to guide efforts and resource allocation. This study investigated the prevalence, trends, and drivers of the utilization of unskilled birth attendants during democratic governance in Nigeria from 1999 to 2018. The study used the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys data for the years 1999 (n = 3552), 2003 (n = 6029), 2008 (n = 28,647), 2013 (n = 31,482), and 2018 (34,193). Multivariate multinomial logistic regression was used to investigate the association between socioeconomic, demographic, health-service, and community-level factors with the utilization of TBAs and other unskilled birth attendants in Nigeria. Between 1999 and 2018, the study showed that the prevalence of TBA-assisted delivery remained unchanged (20.7%; 95% CI: 18.0–23.7% in 1999 and 20.5%; 95% CI: 18.9–22.1% in 2018). The prevalence of other-unskilled-birth-attendant use declined significantly from 45.5% (95% CI: 41.1–49.7%) in 2003 to 36.2% (95% CI: 34.5–38.0%) in 2018. Higher parental education, maternal employment, belonging to rich households, higher maternal age (35–49 years), frequent antenatal care (ANC) (≥4) visits, the proximity of health facilities, and female autonomy in households were associated with lower odds of unskilled birth attendants’ utilization. Rural residence, geopolitical region, lower maternal age (15–24 years), and higher birth interval (≥2 years) were associated with higher odds of unskilled-birth-attendant-assisted deliveries. Reducing births assisted by unskilled birth attendants in Nigeria would require prioritized and scaled-up maternal health efforts that target all women, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, those who do not attend antenatal care, and/or those who reside in rural areas.

The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) was created to scale up immunization of infants, but there have still been records of insufficient levels of immunization against childhood diseases in under-developed countries. Missed opportunity for vaccination is a strategy of achieving immunization coverage of at least 90% by reducing the process that facilitates it being missed and improving health service delivery in under-developed countries like Nigeria. The main objective of the study was to determine the level of missed opportunities in childhood routine immunization in Benin City, Edo State. A cross-sectional study design was utilized for this study in Primary Health Care facilities across the three Local Government areas in Benin city using a multistage sampling technique. The questionnaire was a pretested structured WHO tool, that was interviewer administered. Four hundred and seventy-seven of the children were aged 5 months or less, 20.5% of the children were in the age bracket aged 6-11 months, while only 5 children were aged 18-23 months (0.8%). The mean age of the children was 4.2 ± 3.5 months. The mean age of the male children was 4.4 ±3.5 months, while the mean age of the female was 3.9 ± 3.2 months. In conclusion, missed opportunity for vaccination in this study was high (16.1%) and this can lead to increase in vaccine preventable diseases.

he ultimate goal of immunization is to reduce the incidence of vaccine preventable diseases by attaining high levels of routine immunization coverage with potent vaccines administered at the appropriate ages and at the right intervals. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of childhood routine immunization among mothers/caregivers attending Primary Health Care Centers in Benin City, Edo State. A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 640 females whose wards were receiving immunization in 35 PHCs in Benin City was carried out. Mothers who met the inclusion criteria were recruited using a pre-tested interviewer administered structured questionnaires using a multistage sampling technique. Relationship between dependent and independent variables was determined using logistic regression analysis, at 95% confidence interval and p-values level less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results shows that all the caregivers were aware of immunization. 498(77.8%) with the media being as source of information. A higher proportion of respondent (44.8%) had good knowledge while (38.6% and 12.6%), fair and poor knowledge of immunization respectively. BCG and OPV were the most known vaccines (89.1%), followed by HBV (77.8%), DPT and PENTA were known by 70.6% and 66.1% of respondents respectively. This study revealed good knowledge of immunization amongst the caregivers and good practice with regards to the actual purpose of immunization. Keywords: immunization, mothers, knowledge, under-five, practice

Objectives: The objectives of the study was to determine the occupational hazards HWCs face and the safety measure put in place to mitigate these hazards in a tertiary health institution in Edo State, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used to carry out this study among HWCs in a tertiary health institution. Data were analyzed with IBM-SPSS version 23 and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Out of the 163 respondents interviewed, 50.92% of them had poor knowledge of occupational hazard while 49.08% had good knowledge. All the doctors interviewed had good knowledge as compared to a larger proportion of other HWCs who had poor knowledge of occupational hazard and this association was statistically significant. Most of respondents (96.93%) had positive attitude toward occupational hazard with few of them having poor safety measures to avoid injury in the work place. Conclusion: Majority of Health care workers with the exception of medical doctors have poor knowledge of occupational hazards with poor safety measures though they may have positive attitude.