Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Pregnant Women in Selected Hospitals in Ile-Ife Metropolis, Osun State. Nigeria

Abstract Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The random sampling technique was adopted to sample 120 respondents, representing 100% of the population target for the study. The gathered information was analyzed using frequency table, simple percentage, pie chart, and bar chart. The result was given along with the data which aid clarity of the result and made it easy for the drawing of the conclusion of the information gathered. Findings showed inter alia that information needs of pregnant women in Ile-Ife needs include: breastfeeding, disease prevention and control, environment cleanliness, after delivery, sickness during pregnancy, and immunization. The study concludes that pregnant women in Ile-Ife seek their information through asking doctor, Health workers or paramedical staff, alternative medicine, the internet, pamphlets etc Even though the pregnant woman in Ile-Ife metropolis frequent the hospital on a weekly basis they experience several challenges in their bid to meet their information needs ranging from limited finance, household needs to take care of, having no one to accompany them to the clinic, having no one to discuss pregnancy-related issues with, having to wait a lot to see the doctor or healthcare professional and health staff attitude is not good. The study recommends that Government should ensure adequate distribution of primary health care (PHC) centers especially across the grassroots to ensure pregnant women received information about their pregnancy at the right source, at the right time and an affordable cost