Patterns of Management of Malaria in Pregnancy among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Facilities at Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria in pregnancy is a treatable infectious disease and remains a major cause of maternal, in-utero morbidity and mortality. Pregnant women are often vulnerable and treat malaria using different patterns of measures. However, this study was conducted to identify patterns of management of malaria in pregnancy among pregnant women in Ilishan Remo, Ogun State. A cross-sectional design study was used, and a sample of 271 consented pregnant women were purposely selected at ante-natal care (ANC) facilities in Ilishan-Remo. A self-administered questionnaire obtained information on 35 items. The data were analyzed for descriptive (frequency and percentages) and hypothesis was tested using chi-square at p-value ≤ 0.05. For the socio-demographic features of the respondents, 38.4% age ranges from 25 to 40, one-third (38.4%) were traders. 80.8% of the population were Christians and nearly half (49.1%) had tertiary education. Less than a quarter (16.6%) of the pregnant women often and always used artemisinin combined therapy (ACT) for malaria in pregnancy management. Majority (76.8%) rarely used faith homes measures including holy water, soap and oil. Facilities and resources were statistically significant to Patterns of management used (p < 0.005). Conventional pattern of management used by majority and influenced by health facilities. There is still a need to encourage pregnant women to follow the standard FMOH/WHO pattern of malaria management.