CHAPTER 1
1.1 BACKGROUND
Globally, maternal and child health (MCH) are important determinants of morbidity and mortality (World Bank, 2008). Maternal and child health care services in the health systems constitute a large range of curative and preventive health services of particular importance to the health of women of reproductive age and their infants (World Bank, 2008).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. It encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, pre-conception, pre-natal, ante-natal and post-natal care, as well as immunization and health education (WHO, 2013).
The child health component on the other hand provides the following services; child vaccination programs, growth monitoring and evaluation, childhood illnesses and treatment which are given to babies right from birth up to the age of five(5) years. Of these interventions as noted worldwide, childhood immunization is seen to be the most appropriate and effective technology. These services are all aimed at reducing maternal and child morbidity and mortality (WHO, 2013).
Nigeria has one of the highest morbidity and mortality rate in the world, necessitating MCH services (Akukwe et al. 1999). Globally, despite WHO’s effort aimed at improving maternal and child health indices, these values still remain high especially in developing countries such as Nigeria where reports have shown that every year about 287,000 women die of causes associated with childbirth; these poor maternal health indices in developing countries have remained a great burden for the governments of the various countries concerned, as well as the international health community, despite several attempts at correcting this anomaly been made at various levels (WHO.UNICEF.UNFPA, 2012; Sholeye et al. 2013).