Background:Male gender preference is a dominant feature of Igbo culture and could be the reason behind women seeking fetal gender at ultrasound.Aim:The aim of this study is to investigate the perception of prenatal ultrasound patients of male gender preference in a patriarchal and gender sensitive society.Subjects and Methods:The study was a cross-sectional survey, which targeted pregnant women who presented for prenatal ultrasound at four selected hospitals in Anambra State. A convenience sample size of 790 pregnant women constituted the respondents. The data collection instrument was a 13-item semi-structured self-completion questionnaire designed in line with the purpose of the study. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out with statistical significance being considered at P < 0.05.Results:Most of the women (88.4%, 698/790) were aware that fetal gender can be determined during the prenatal ultrasound while just over half of them (61.0%, 482/790) wanted fetal gender disclosed to them during prenatal ultrasound. More than half (58.6%, 463/790) of the women desired to have male babies in their present pregnancies while 20.1% (159/790) desired female babies and 21.3% (168/790) did not care if the baby was male or female. Some of the women (22.2%, 175/790) wanted to have male babies in their present pregnancies for various reasons predominant of which was protecting their marriages and cementing their places in their husbands’ hearts. Male gender preference was strongly perceived. There was considerable anxiety associated with prenatal gender determination and moderate loss of interest in the pregnancy associated with disclosure of undesired fetal gender. Socio-demographic factors had significant influence on perception of male gender preference.Conclusion:Male gender preference is strongly perceived among Igbo women and its perception is significantly influenced by socio-demographic factors. Male gender preference may be responsible for Igbo women seeking fetal gender at ultrasound.

The study is aimed to investigate placental thickness as a parameter for estimating gestational age in normal singleton pregnancies in Nigerian women. 730 Nigerian women with normal singleton pregnancies who were attending antenatal clinic at Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Nigeria were studied by transabdominal ultrasound between February, 2007 and January, 2008. Sonography was carried out using Sonoscape SSI 600 ultrasound machine with 3.5MHz transducer. Gestational age was estimated by crown-rump length (CRL), biparietal diameter (BPD), femur length (FL) and abdominal circumference (AC) and the composite average recorded while placental thickness was measured at the point of insertion of the umbilical cord. Mean placental thickness with standard deviation was calculated for each gestational age. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between placental thickness and gestational age while regression analysis yielded mathematical relationships between placental thickness and gestation age. The maximum mean placental thickness of 45.1 ± 6.4mm was recorded at 39 weeks gestation. There was a fairly linear increase in mean placental thickness with gestation age. There was significant and strong positive correlation between placental thickness and gestational age. Placental thickness appears promising as an accurate indicator of gestational age in singleton pregnancies in Nigerian women.

Prenatal ultrasound has in the past one decade gained acceptance as a standard tool for obstetric management in North-Central Nigeria but it is however faced with barriers hindering its utilization in prenatal care. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of pregnant women about the barriers to utilization of prenatal ultrasound in prenatal care in North-Central Nigeria. A hospitalbased cross-sectional prospective survey was conducted at the antenatal clinic of Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Benue State in North-Central Nigeria between December 2008 and June 2009. The survey targeted pregnant women who were attending antenatal clinic in the hospital. A convenience sample of 596 patients who have had at least one previous prenatal ultrasound were included in the study. Results showed all the barriers were rated high with necessity of scan (attitude) and satisfaction with prenatal ultrasound service rating higher than the rest; being 2.91±1.12 and 3.00± 0.63 respectively on a 4-point scale. Socio-demographic variables correlated significantly to the identified barriers (p < 0.05) while one-way ANOVA showed that all the socio-demographic variables were significant contributors to their ratings of various barriers (p < 0.05). In conclusion, negative attitude, long distances to service providers, considerably heavy financial cost, long waiting periods and unsatisfactory previous scan experience are major barriers to prenatal ultrasound. Socio-demographic variables have significant influence on these barriers and improvement on these variables can help overcome the barriers.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship betweenplacentalthicknessandestimatedfetalweightin normalpregnantNigerianwomen.Sixhundredandfortyfive Nigerian women with singleton pregnancies in the secondandthirdtrimesterswerestudiedbytransabdominal ultrasound.Fetalweightwasestimatedbymeasurementof biparietal diameter (BPD) and abdominal circumference (AC). Gestational age was estimated by measuring the BPDandfetalfemurlength(FL).Placentalthicknesswas measuredinalongitudinalsectionatthepointofinsertion oftheumbilicalcord.Results showedthat both placental thickness and estimated fetal weight increased in fairly linearmannerwithgestationalage.Thereweresignificant positive correlations between placental thickness and estimated fetal weight in the second and third trimesters (p<0.05).Regressionanalysisyieldedlinearmathematical relationshipsbetweenestimatedfetalweightandplacental thicknessinthesecondandthirdtrimesters,butthemarked variations in fetal weights corresponding to particular placentalthicknesslimittheusefulnessofthisrelationship.

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