Assessment of Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness (BP/CR) among Pregnant Women in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria

Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness (BP/CR) are very important tenets of Focused Ante-Natal Care (FANC) aimed at reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. This study assessed birth preparedness and complication readiness among pregnant women in three health facilities in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 210 pregnant women using a questionnaire that assessed socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric factors affecting delivery, and knowledge about birth preparedness and complication readiness. The results showed that out of 210 respondents, 179(85.24%) were aged 17-34 years while 84.3% (177) had post-primary education. Greater percentage (70%) of respondents earned twenty thousand naira or less monthly while 89.5% (188) fall within the 0-5 parity group. One hundred and seventy-seven (55.7%) had more than 4 ANC visits, 178 (84.8%) prepared items for birth, and 175(83%) identified a skilled provider. Awareness of danger signs of pregnancy was (80%), labour (77%), postpartum (76%) and neonatal danger signs (74.8%). Only 33.3% arranged for blood donor. Chi-square showed that age, monthly income, educational status, occupation, and other socio-demographic variables were statistically significant(p≤0.05) while multiple logistic regression showed that educational status(AOR 11.799, 95% CI 0.203-5.165), monthly income(AOR 3.19, 95% CI 0.001-0.324), family size(AOR 1.500, 95% CI 0.001-0.213), spouse occupation (AOR 6.140, 95% CI 0.145-0.145) and spouse annual income(AOR 8.760, 95% CI 0.002-1.105) are strong predictors of BPCR. One hundred and sixty two (77%) of the pregnant women studied were prepared for BP/CR. In conclusion, the respondents had high level of BP/CR, however, increased awareness on blood donor arrangement has to be intensified and women educated more in obstetric/neonatal danger signs.