Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science

This study examined factors affecting the utilization of maternal health care services ‘Abiye programme’ by rural women of Ondo State, Nigeria. A multistage and purposive sampling technique was used to select one hundred and twenty women for the study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency tables, percentages and means were used to present study findings. Pearson Product Moment of Correlation (PPMC) was used to test the study hypothesis where p<.05 determined significance. Data revealed that the majority (75.0%) of the rural women were married, with mean age of 30 years, and 20.8% had adult education. Services most utilized by respondents included provision of free drugs (98.0%), free medical care for children less than five years (95.8%) and free delivery i.e. the process of birthing (95.0%). PPMC revealed that ages of the respondent   (r = 0.210; p ≤ 0.05) and household size (r = -0.221; p≤0.05) were significant determinants of the level of utilization of maternal health services ‘Abiye programme’. Two major constraints faced by the respondents’ were lack of income-generating activities, and distance to the maternity centers. The study concluded that the maternal health care services were highly utilized. It is recommended that free medical care for children less than five years of age, and free medications for pregnant women should continue irrespective of the change in government.