Chinedu John-Camillus IGBOANUSI^1,, Kabir SABITU², Abdulrazaq Abdullahi GOBIR², Awawu Grace NMADU³, Istifanus Anekoson JOSHUA³

Globally, more than 830 women die daily from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications especially in developing countries. Despite its importance, utilization of postnatal care services in Nigeria is very low due to various factors. This study assessed and compared the factors affecting the utilization of postnatal care services in primary health care facilities in urban and rural settlements in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study was a cross-sectional, community-based and mixed method study carried out in Sabon Gari (an urban) and Giwa (a rural) Local Government Areas in July 2017. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 410 households in each study area where structured questionnaires were administered. The data was analysed using SPSS^®version 20.0. Results were presented in charts and tables. Postnatal care services utilization was 73.7% and 61.4% in the urban and rural settlements respectively. Multivariate analysis identified antenatal attendance, large baby, poorest wealth quintile, transportation problems to the health facilities, and maternal age as predictors of postnatal care services utilization in the urban settings. In the rural settings the predictors were antenatal service attendance, hospital waiting time, family and financial problems. However, focus group discussion findings showed that there were not many differences in urban and rural areas. There were different predictors of postnatal services utilization in both urban and rural study areas. The state public health authorities need to take steps to address the various factors that deterred utilization of postnatal care services.

utilization, postnatal care, primary health care, rural and urban settlements