Attitudes and practices of private medical providers towards family planning and abortion services in Nigeria

Abstract

These results suggest the need for a program of retraining of private practitioners on the principles and practices of safe abortion, postabortion care and family planning in Nigeria and the integration of these topics into medical training curricula in the country.

Postabortion care counseling practiced by health professionals in southeastern Nigeria

“…The present study shows that a high proportion of respondents reported practicing PAC counseling in Nigeria, among both doctors and nurses. This is in contrast to other studies conducted in Nigeria that revealed a poor "practice" of PAC services among healthcare providers [13,14].…”

Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: Issues and Challenges

“…Thus most of these abortions are done illegally and by unskilled personnel under septic conditions. 20 About 610,000 induced abortions are carried out in Nigeria annually. 21 It is estimated that 20,000 out of the 50,000 maternal deaths are related to abortion and its complications.…”

Preference for private hospital-based maternity services in inner-city Lagos, Nigeria: An observational study

“…It has also highlighted some adverse perinatal outcomes associated with the use of private hospitals in this setting. The study complements an earlier work which examined more broadly the correlates of non-hospital deliveries and skilled attendants at birth [13] as with several other quantitative and qualitative studies from developing countries [8,18,[21][22][23][24]. The emphasis of earlier studies by other researchers was on scaling-up of facilitybased and/or skilled attendants at delivery particularly in rural areas largely on account of the fact that about 60% of deliveries in the region occurred outside hospitals predominantly without skilled attendants [12].…”

“…The emphasis of earlier studies by other researchers was on scaling-up of facilitybased and/or skilled attendants at delivery particularly in rural areas largely on account of the fact that about 60% of deliveries in the region occurred outside hospitals predominantly without skilled attendants [12]. However, considering the limitations and prospects regarding the services provided by private hospitals in developing countries [9,10,[16][17][18]25], this sector deserves closer attention from policymakers at global and national levels. Moreover, the imminent urban transition in Nigeria and other developing countries [14] points clearly to an increasing and prominent role of private hospitals in the overall healthcare delivery.…”

“…Most private hospitals do not provide immunization services and will not admit mothers with a previous history of complicated delivery or considered to be "high-risk" while others have no clear-cut policies on admission criteria which portend greater risks for the patients. Moreover, financially motivated unethical practices such as excessive billing, over-prescriptions and unnecessary medical procedures are more common among private health providers principally due to poor or lack of regulation and surveillance [10,17,18]. Recertification schemes incorporating mandatory continuing medical education for medical personnel which are standard practices in developed countries are non-existent in many developing countries.…”