Volume 1 - Issue 4, November - December 2025

Background: Maternal and child healthcare services are essential for reducing preventable deaths and promoting lifelong health for women and children. Knowledge and attitudes held by women towards these services are key determinants to their utilization and adoption of beneficial practices. This study is therefore aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude to maternal and child healthcare services delivery among postpartum women in a secondary healthcare facility in Anambra State, Nigeria.
Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire to obtain data from 130 postpartum women utilizing maternal and child healthcare services in a general hospital in the state. Participants were enrolled using systematic sampling technique. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 and statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 27.38 ± 4.80 years. Majority of the respondents were married (94.6%), christians (98.5%) and Igbos (96.9%). Eighty percent of the respondents generally had good level of knowledge of maternal and child heathcare services. The level of knowledge was highest for antenatal services (96.2%) and immunization services (94.2%). Ninety seven point six percent of the respondents generally exhibited positive attitude to maternal and child healthcare services. Positive attitude was highest for antenatal care and immunization (114; 87.7% and 112; 86.2% respectively) and lowest for postnatal care visits and family planning (94; 72.3% and 78; 60.0% respectively). Statistically significantly associated existed between knowledge of maternal and child heathcare services and the tribe and religion of the respondents (P < 0.05), and attitude to maternal and child heathcare services and the marital status of the respondents (P < 0.00).
Conclusion: The postpartum women were generally knowledgeable and had positive attitudes to maternal and child healthcare service delivery in the secondary healthcare facility. Enhancing knowledge and fostering positive attitudes through targeted education, community engagement, and provider training is therefore essential for maintaining and improving this knowledge and attitude