Sex education on the dangers of sexual promiscuity, availability of barrier methods of contraception, delivery with strict adherence to the principles of universal precaution and routine screening of all pregnant women during the antenatal period will help to decrease the prevalence of HIV in our environment.

The overall goal of obstetric practice is to deliver a healthy baby to a healthy mother. Attaining this goal sometimes may require the ultimate weapon at the disposal of the obstetrician, which is intervention. Intervention becomes necessary when on critical assessment of the obstetric balance, the risk of continuing the pregnancy far outweighs the risk of interrupting it. The intervention at the disposal of the obstetrician is either of induction of labour or Caesarean section. This study aims to determine the incidence, indications and the maternal and neonatal outcome of induction of labour at the Niger Delta University teaching Hospital, okolobiri, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. This is a cross-sectional, prospective study conducted between 1 st January 2010 to 31 st December 2011.The incidence of induction of labour in this study was 6.5% and the three commonest indications were; prolonged pregnancy31 (51.7%), followed by prelabour rupture of foetal membranes 19 (31.7%) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy 10(10.0 %). Most of the patients had induction of labour with vaginal misoprostol 33(55.0%). Majority of the women had spontaneous vaginal delivery51 (85.0%), while 9(15.0%) had emergency Caesarean section. The commonest indication for the Caesarean section is cephalopelvic disproportion 5(8.3%). The most common complication seen in the mothers is hyper stimulation 4(6.7%), while 7 (11.7%) of the babies were admitted into the special care baby unit (SCBU).

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This study determined the obstetric benefits and compared the obstetric indices and pregnancy outcome of enrollees and non-enrollees of the national health insurance scheme (NHIS). A prospective cohort study of enrollees and non-enrollees of NHIS was conducted over 2 years. Data was analysed with Epi-info statistical software. Malaria (25.3% versus 8.0%, p value ≤0.001), anaemia (11.3% versus 3.3%, p value ≤0.0001), preterm delivery (8.0% versus 2.7% p value = 0.00001), antenatal default rate (22.7% versus 6.7%, p value = 0.0001) and maternal death (2.7% versus 0.7%, p value = 0.00001) were higher in the non-insured. Singleton low birth weight (9.3% versus 2.7%, p value = 0.00001) and new born admission (10.7% versus 4.7%, p value = 0.00001) were also more in non-enrollee, with higher perinatal deaths (6.7% versus 2.0%, p value = 0.00001). Women managed under the Nigerian NHIS scheme had better maternal and perinatal indices, therefore, effort should be scaled up to ensure universal health insurance coverage for all parturient and their newborn.

Majority of maternal deaths occur during labour and delivery, mostly as a result of delays; in recognizing danger signs, in deciding to seek care , in reaching the health facility, hence birth-preparedness which encourages preparation and decision making before labour reduces all levels of delay and promotes skilled care during labour and delivery. This study aims to determine the level of birth preparedness and the factors associated with it. This cross-sectional, multicentre descriptive study was conducted in Benin Central Hospital and University of Benin Teaching Hospital Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Data were collected with the aid of an interviewer -administered structured Questionnaires. 38% of the respondents revealed some level of awareness of birth preparedness however, there was a statistically significant difference in the source of information, level of education and the expression of danger signs (all p value <0.005) among these group of women. Most (40.4%) embraced birth preparedness because it allows for ease of delivery, child spacing (28.1%) and to avoid complications (23.7%). majority of respondents in UBTH plan to achieve these goals by savings (92.1%), which is statistically different from those respondents from CHB (z =3.59; p = 0.000).