Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 430 consenting pregnant women attending antenatal clinics between March 1 and May 30, 2020, using pretested questionnaires. Results: The mean age and mean gestational age of the respondents were 30.04 years (95% confidence interval [CI] 28.9-31.1) and 26.3 weeks (95% CI 23.3-29.3), respectively. More than four-fiths (82%) of the women believed that COVID-19 is real and their main source of information was mass media. The majority had adequate knowledge of COVID-19. More than half of the respondents said COVID-19 is a curable disease and that chloroquine can be used. The majority showed a good attitude and preventive practice of COVID-19 disease; however, one-fourth (24%) thought that infected individuals should be killed to prevent the spread of the virus. Conclusion: The study population has good knowledge, attitude, and practice of COVID-19 disease. However, it is worrisome that some respondents thought that infected individuals should be killed. Proper education must be given to the populace to avert these negative attitudes while promoting a positive preventive attitude. The study population has adequate knowledge, good attitude, and preventive practice of COVID-19; however, community education is needed to reduce anxiety among the populace.

Background. Cervical cancer is a preventable disease and the most common cancer among women in Nigeria. Objectives. To appraise the perception and utilization of cervical cancer screening services among female nurses in Federal Teaching hospital, Abakaliki. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study was done using semi-structured questionnaires on 408 consenting female nurses. Data was represented using simple percentages, charts, and Chi-square. Results. Of the 408 questionnaires shared, 388 were correctly and completely filled and analyzed. The respondents in this study showed good knowledge of cervical cancer as all (388) were aware that cervical cancer is a preventable disease of public health concern. Majority of them, 179 (46.1%) were between 21 and 30 years of age. The most common symptom of cervical cancer identified was postcoital bleeding (57%). Nursing training was the most common (73.5%) source of cervical cancer information. Utilization of cervical cancer screening was poor in this study as only 20.6% of the respondents had ever undergone screening. The most common reason for nonscreening was that they have not thought of it (28.4%). Conclusion. Despite the high level of awareness of cervical cancer screening, utilization remains low. There is, therefore, the need for cervical cancer education for the nurses to help improve utilization.

Background: Menstruation has a variable pattern. Knowledge of age at menarche and providing accurate information to adolescent girls is necessary to allay anxiety, treat menstrual morbidities, and improve their quality of life. Objective: To determine the age at menarche and menstrual characteristics of adolescent secondary school girls in Abakaliki. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in seven secondary schools in Abakaliki among 960 female students. A total of 450 girls were randomly selected for the study. A pretested selfadministered questionnaire was used in data collection. Four hundred questionnaires were properly filled and used for the final analysis. Results: The age range of the students was between 10 -21years. The mean age of the respondents was 16.2 AE 1.7years. The average age at menarche was 13 AE 1.0 years. Urban dwellers had menarche 0.2years earlier than rural dwellers. There is an association between menarche and social class (X [2] 372.9 (2), p ¼ 0.001). About 87.75% of the respondents had an average cycle length. Most (88.3%) of the respondents had a menstrual flow duration of 3-5 days. Dysmenorrhoea was present in 82% of respondents and was severe enough to cause absence from school in 56.5% of students. Oligomenorrhea and menorrhagia occurred in 8.5 % and 6.25 % of the student studied. Mothers (80.0%), friends (75.0%) and teachers (74.5%) accounted for the bulk of the information on menstrual health. Conclusion:The average age at menarche was 13 AE 1.0 years. Dysmenorrhea is a major cause of morbidity amongst this age group and should be empathically addressed. It is therefore important that the students, their parents, and school managers in the study area be educated on the issues of menstrual problems that can occur in an adolescent.

Introduction Infection is one of the most common causes of maternal morbidities and mortality and has been reported to be responsible for about 15% of maternal deaths. Any woman is at risk of infection during childbirth, but women undergoing cesarean section are at higher risk. Improvement in surgical procedures with asepsis and the use of antibiotics have helped reduce postoperative infectious morbidities. However, ascending infection from the lower to the upper genital tract is a common but often neglected source of infection. Cleaning the vagina with chlorhexidine antiseptic solution before cesarean section can be a cheap and affordable source of infection control. This study is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of preoperative vaginal cleansing using 1.0% chlorhexidine in the reduction of post‐cesarean section infectious morbidities. Material and methods This prospective randomized control trial was conducted among 322 pregnant women who underwent an emergency cesarean section at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE‐FUTHA). The women were randomized into two groups. The interventional group received vaginal cleansing with three standard gauzes soaked in 30 mL 1.0% chlorhexidine gluconate solution preoperatively in addition to surgical skin cleaning with chlorhexidine‐alcohol. The women in the control group only had surgical skin cleaning with chlorhexidine‐alcohol. All the women received pre‐ and postoperative antibiotics. The primary outcomes were endometritis and wound infections. Results Infectious morbidity was significantly reduced from 36.8% in the control group to 12.0% in the intervention group (P = .001). Endometritis occurred significantly less frequently in the intervention group than the control group (respectively 6.6% compared with 27.6%: relative risk [RR] 0.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.16‐0.53; P < .05). Foul‐smelling vaginal discharge was significantly more common in the control group than in the intervention group (11.8% vs 1.3%, respectively) but the CI was wide (RR 8.5, 95% CI 1.30‐64.55; P < .001). Fever and wound infection were more common in the control group (5.9% vs 3.3% and 9.2% vs 5.3%) but the difference was not significant. The hospital stay was significantly shorter among the intervention group (5.54 ± 1.04 days compared with 6.01 ± 1.55 days, P < 0.05). The most common microbial isolate implicated in endocervical colonization was Staphylococcus aureus followed by Klebsiella species. Conclusions Vaginal cleansing with 1.0% chlorhexidine gluconate solution before emergency cesarean section appears to be effective in reducing rates of post‐cesarean section infectious morbidity in the study area. We recommend its use among women undergoing cesarean section to help reduce the contribution of infections to a poor obstetrics outcome.

Background Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an assault on womanhood. Objective To compare the obstetric outcome between parturient with genital mutilation with a cohort that has no genital mutilation. Materials and methods This cross-sectional prospective study was done in the labour ward of Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2013. The obstetrics outcome of 260 consenting healthy parturients with FGM in the 1st stage of labour was compared with 260 cohorts with no FGM and also in labour. Data were obtained with a structured questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistic version 20. Simple percentage odd ratio and Chi-square were used for data analysis at a p-value of < 0.05. Results The mean age and gestational age of the women were 27.9 ± 4.8 years and 38.9 ± 1.5 weeks respectively. Majority of the women, 308 or 77.0%, belonged to social class 4 and 82.0% had Type 2 FGM. More than 90.0% of the women had a vaginal delivery and the 2nd stage of labour lasted more than 2 h in 13.4% of the women (OR = 0.78 95% CI 0.64-0.97). Parturient with FGM had increased odd of perineal tear (OR = 0.76 95% CI 0.63 - 0.91) and episiotomy (OR = 1.69 95% CI 1.17–2.45). The mode of delivery and neonatal Apgar scores were not significantly influenced by the presence of FGM (P > 0.05). Conclusion The study has shown that FGM in labour increases the odds of developing perineal trauma which may be associated with a host of short- and long-term complications. We recommend continued awareness creation to stop FGM.

Background: The ripeness of the cervix is of critical importance to the probability of successful labour induction. Aim: To determine the relationship between successful induction of labour and Bishop score. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of all obstetric patients who had induction of labour between January 1 st 2012 and December 31st 2015 was done in Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki. The information obtained from patients' case notes was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics at an alpha level of 0.05 for all statistical tests. Results: During the study period, there were 9548 deliveries; 2.76% (264) was by induction of labour with success rate of 75.4%. The mean age of the women was 28.4 ± 5.8 years; majority where nulliparous (45.45%). The most common indication for induction of labour was postdatism (43.94%). Success of induction of labour was most likely at Bishop score of 8 to 10 (OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.72-0.84). Induction delivery interval was shortest with use of Foley catheter and misoprostol. Conclusion: Our study has shown that success of induction of labour was most likely at Bishop Score of 8-10. We advocate the use of Foley catheter and misoprostol for cervical ripening especially when there is need to expedite delivery.

Introduction Nurses are the largest healthcare workforce and are not immune to intimate partner violence (IPV) and its consequences. Objective This study is aimed at determining the prevalence, types of IPV, and its determinants among female nurses and nursing students in a tertiary teaching hospital in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Methods This cross-sectional study was done in a teaching hospital in Abakaliki between 1st March 2018 and 31st May 2018 to evaluate the prevalence of IPV in the past 12 months among 460 female nursing students and 460 nurses in the facility. Data were obtained with a structured questionnaire and a Composite Abuse Scale. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20 and represented using frequency table, percentages, and odds ratios. The level of significance is at P-value < 0.05. Results The prevalence of IPV was 48.2% for the nursing student and 58.7% for the nurses. The most common form of IPV among nursing students was Emotional and/or Harassment abuse (27.1%) while it was Severe combined abuse (23.9%) among the nurses. The significant determinants of IPV among nursing students were age [OR =  0.61(95%CI0.41-0.92)] and year of study [OR = 0.67 (95%CI 0.51–0.89)]. Male partner being unemployed was associated with increased odds of a female partner experiencing violence. Nurses’ marital status and being in the low socioeconomic class were associated with increased odds of a nurse witnessing IPV. Conclusion The prevalence of IPV in the studied group is unacceptably high. Efforts are therefore needed to prevent IPV in the study groups. Health care managers in the study area should make policies to support nurses/nursing students who have experienced IPV.

Background: World over, there has being an improvement in birth spacing resulting in a reduction in the perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality rates. Objective: To appraise the factors influencing inter-pregnancy interval (IPI) among pregnant women receiving antenatal care at Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done among antenatal attendee, with at least one previous delivery, in Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki over a six month period using a structured questionnaire. Data obtained was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 28.6 (95% CI 28.1-29.1) years. The majority (231, 70%) were multiparous. Most respondent (162, 49.1%) had their last delivery 6-12 months prior to conception. The significant determinants of IPI include: maternal age, marital status, place of residence, social class, baby's sex, family income, use of contraceptive, parity and outcome of her last confinement. Contraceptive knowledge is high (300, 90.9%); more than 50% had the desire to use some form of contraceptive but majority (132, 40%) said they will never use contraceptive after delivery. Conclusions: Majority of the women had an IPI of 6-12 months. The major determinant of this includes having a live birth in last delivery, parity, marital status, and place of residence. The attitude to contraception is poor; effort needs to be directed into identifying the immediate and remote causes of this as this will help in proper education and counselling needed to increase contraceptive uptake.