Maternal health literacy, utilisation of maternal healthcare services and pregnancy outcomes among newly delivered mothers: A cross-sectional study in Nigeria

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess and determine associations between maternal health literacy (MHL) levels, utilisation of maternal healthcare services and pregnancy outcomes among newly delivered mothers. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. METHODS: In total, 185 newly delivered mothers were selected from two health facilities using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using an adapted structured questionnaire. Analyses of data were performed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Kruskal-Wallis test and logistic regression. The level of significance was set at 0.05 (p < 0.05). RESULTS: More than one-third of participants (41.6%) had inadequate MHL. Utilisation of maternal healthcare services was moderate; only 55.7% of participants were registered for antenatal care at ≤14 weeks of pregnancy and 59.5% received three doses of tetanus vaccine, however, the majority of participants (85.9%) attended antenatal care with skilled birth attendants. Almost half of participants (49.2%) had poor pregnancy outcomes. A significant association was found between MHL and utilisation of maternal healthcare services (p < 0.05). MHL was also significantly associated with certain sociodemographic characteristics of participants (i.e. age, educational level, occupation and income). CONCLUSIONS: More than one-third of participants had inadequate MHL, utilisation of maternal healthcare services was moderate and approximately half of study participants had poor pregnancy outcomes. Health workers should provide training sessions for pregnant women to improve MHL.