American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Burden of Unplanned Antenatal Visits in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria: Making a Case for an Improved Referral System

Received: 04 June 2019    Accepted: 03 July 2019    Published: 13 July 2019
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Abstract

Non-urgent unplanned visits are frequently observed in pregnancy. However, there are no studies from Nigeria exploring its burden. A cross-sectional cohort survey of 1,182 women at the only state-owned teaching hospital in Ado - Ekiti was conducted to address this need. One-quarter of the population studied had unplanned antenatal visits during the period of care. Only about one in four of the reasons for the unplanned visits were ‘direct’ pregnancy-related complaints, while the largest proportion of the women, 227 (73.5%), visited on account of infectious morbidities, followed by gastrointestinal disorders, 63 (20.4%). Mothers who were skilled workers were significantly more likely to have unplanned antenatal visits compared with their unemployed counterparts (45.3% versus 20.7%, p = 0.013). Unplanned visits were significantly more in women who had reduced fetal movements (9.4% versus 0.9%, p < 0.0001); significantly more women who had out-of-schedule prenatal visits were admitted for care (37.9% versus 0.2%, p < 0.0001), and had induction of labour (20.1% versus 10.3%, p < 0.0001) when compared with those who had no unplanned visits. Reduced maternal perception of fetal movements (odds ratio: 7.57; 95% C. I. 3.07 - 18.70, p < 0.0001), prenatal admission (odds ratio: 241.81; 95% C. I. 59.02 - 990.75, p < 0.0001), and induction of labour (odds ratio: 1.90; 95% C. I. 1.24 - 2.93, p = 0.003) were found to be independently associated with unplanned antenatal visits.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15
Published in American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 3, June 2019)
Page(s) 68-72
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Unplanned Visits, Non-urgent, Emergency Department, Prenatal Care, Referral System, Nigeria

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

  • Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

  • Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital School of Nursing, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

  • Department of Nursing Science, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria

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    Awoleke Jacob Olumuyiwa, Olofinbiyi Babatunde Ajayi, Awoleke Adeola Olabisi, Olofinbiyi Rebecca Oluwafunke. (2019). Burden of Unplanned Antenatal Visits in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria: Making a Case for an Improved Referral System. American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences, 7(3), 68-72. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15

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    ACS Style

    Awoleke Jacob Olumuyiwa; Olofinbiyi Babatunde Ajayi; Awoleke Adeola Olabisi; Olofinbiyi Rebecca Oluwafunke. Burden of Unplanned Antenatal Visits in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria: Making a Case for an Improved Referral System. Am. J. Biomed. Life Sci. 2019, 7(3), 68-72. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15

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    AMA Style

    Awoleke Jacob Olumuyiwa, Olofinbiyi Babatunde Ajayi, Awoleke Adeola Olabisi, Olofinbiyi Rebecca Oluwafunke. Burden of Unplanned Antenatal Visits in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria: Making a Case for an Improved Referral System. Am J Biomed Life Sci. 2019;7(3):68-72. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15,
      author = {Awoleke Jacob Olumuyiwa and Olofinbiyi Babatunde Ajayi and Awoleke Adeola Olabisi and Olofinbiyi Rebecca Oluwafunke},
      title = {Burden of Unplanned Antenatal Visits in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria: Making a Case for an Improved Referral System},
      journal = {American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences},
      volume = {7},
      number = {3},
      pages = {68-72},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajbls.20190703.15},
      abstract = {Non-urgent unplanned visits are frequently observed in pregnancy. However, there are no studies from Nigeria exploring its burden. A cross-sectional cohort survey of 1,182 women at the only state-owned teaching hospital in Ado - Ekiti was conducted to address this need. One-quarter of the population studied had unplanned antenatal visits during the period of care. Only about one in four of the reasons for the unplanned visits were ‘direct’ pregnancy-related complaints, while the largest proportion of the women, 227 (73.5%), visited on account of infectious morbidities, followed by gastrointestinal disorders, 63 (20.4%). Mothers who were skilled workers were significantly more likely to have unplanned antenatal visits compared with their unemployed counterparts (45.3% versus 20.7%, p = 0.013). Unplanned visits were significantly more in women who had reduced fetal movements (9.4% versus 0.9%, p < 0.0001); significantly more women who had out-of-schedule prenatal visits were admitted for care (37.9% versus 0.2%, p < 0.0001), and had induction of labour (20.1% versus 10.3%, p < 0.0001) when compared with those who had no unplanned visits. Reduced maternal perception of fetal movements (odds ratio: 7.57; 95% C. I. 3.07 - 18.70, p < 0.0001), prenatal admission (odds ratio: 241.81; 95% C. I. 59.02 - 990.75, p < 0.0001), and induction of labour (odds ratio: 1.90; 95% C. I. 1.24 - 2.93, p = 0.003) were found to be independently associated with unplanned antenatal visits.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Burden of Unplanned Antenatal Visits in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria: Making a Case for an Improved Referral System
    AU  - Awoleke Jacob Olumuyiwa
    AU  - Olofinbiyi Babatunde Ajayi
    AU  - Awoleke Adeola Olabisi
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15
    T2  - American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences
    JF  - American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences
    JO  - American Journal of Biomedical and Life Sciences
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-880X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbls.20190703.15
    AB  - Non-urgent unplanned visits are frequently observed in pregnancy. However, there are no studies from Nigeria exploring its burden. A cross-sectional cohort survey of 1,182 women at the only state-owned teaching hospital in Ado - Ekiti was conducted to address this need. One-quarter of the population studied had unplanned antenatal visits during the period of care. Only about one in four of the reasons for the unplanned visits were ‘direct’ pregnancy-related complaints, while the largest proportion of the women, 227 (73.5%), visited on account of infectious morbidities, followed by gastrointestinal disorders, 63 (20.4%). Mothers who were skilled workers were significantly more likely to have unplanned antenatal visits compared with their unemployed counterparts (45.3% versus 20.7%, p = 0.013). Unplanned visits were significantly more in women who had reduced fetal movements (9.4% versus 0.9%, p < 0.0001); significantly more women who had out-of-schedule prenatal visits were admitted for care (37.9% versus 0.2%, p < 0.0001), and had induction of labour (20.1% versus 10.3%, p < 0.0001) when compared with those who had no unplanned visits. Reduced maternal perception of fetal movements (odds ratio: 7.57; 95% C. I. 3.07 - 18.70, p < 0.0001), prenatal admission (odds ratio: 241.81; 95% C. I. 59.02 - 990.75, p < 0.0001), and induction of labour (odds ratio: 1.90; 95% C. I. 1.24 - 2.93, p = 0.003) were found to be independently associated with unplanned antenatal visits.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 3
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