Women’s Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness in Nigeria: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

IntroductionGlobally, efforts are being made to reduce the menace of maternal death in order to achieve the sustainable development goal. Maternal death has been associated with inadequate birth preparedness and complication readiness especially in the low and middle-income countries. Therefore, this review assessed birth preparedness and complication readiness in Nigeria.MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis of published research articles on birth preparedness and complication readiness in Nigeria was done using PubMed, EMBASE and MEDLINE databases. All published articles from inception to November, 2018 were included in the review. A total of 8913 published articles were identified from electronic search, a total of 4440 studies were included in this review, while only 12 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis.ResultsThe pooled prevalence of ‘Good BPCR’ for all studies yielded an estimate of 58.7% (95% CI 43.9 to 72.7%). The I2 statistic was 98%, indicating statistically significant heterogeneity among the studies. The percentage of women with good birth preparedness and complication readiness increases with increasing year of publication, such that women tended to be more aware good birth preparedness and complication readiness in recent years. More than half of the women had knowledge of obstetric danger signs (52.0%, 95% CI 39.5 to 64.4%, 10 studies), arranged for transportation (59.5%, 95% CI 36.2 to 80.7, 11 studies) or saved money (63.4%, 95% CI 44.7 to 80.2%, 11 studies) as part of the BPCR.ConclusionWomen in Nigeria are better prepared for birth preparedness and complication readiness in recent years. Therefore, interventions to promote more adequate birth preparedness and complication readiness among women is recommended.PROSPERO registration numberThe study protocol was registered with PROSPERO number, CRD42019123220Key questionsWhat is already known?Globally, birth preparedness and complication readiness is a concept which has been proven to be effective at increasing skilled birth attendance. It is a strategy for reducing maternal death especially in middle and lo-income countries.What are the new findings?More pregnant women and recently delivered mothers in the Southern part of Nigeria have a better birth preparedness and complication readiness compared to their counterpart in the Northern part of the country.Number of pregnant women and recently delivered mothers with good birth preparedness and complication readiness increases with increasing year of publication.What do the new findings imply?This review provides data about women’s birth preparedness and complication readiness across different regions of Nigeria. Having a poorer BPCR in the Northern region of the country could be responsible for higher maternal death in the region.This could be used to plan interventions to improve birth preparedness and complication readiness in different regions of the country.Data availability statementNo data are available.