Factors Affecting Utilization of Partograph among Obstetric Care Providers in Public Health Care Facilities in Kaduna Metropolis, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Background: About 810 women died every day from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth in 2017 yielding a total death of 295,000 women. In Nigeria, the trend in maternal mortality has not improved. One of the direct causes of maternal mortality is obstructed labour. Use of partographs by SBAs (skilled birth attendants) has been shown to reduce loss of life by preventing prolonged obstructed labour. Despite this, partographs are still not widely used and even when used it is mostly in tertiary institutions. Objective: The study aims to assess factors affecting utilization of partograph among obstetric care providers in the area. Methodology: This is a cross sectional descriptive study and the study area is public Hospitals (primary, secondary and tertiary) in Kaduna metropolis. A self-administered closed ended question was used and SPSS version 20.0 was used to analyse data. Results: Sixty three point seven per cent of the one hundred and ten respondents said non-availability of the partograph is not a problem in their facilities. More than one third of the respondents, 39.1% said lack of knowledge was the major factor hindering utilization. Knowledge, place of practice and profession of respondents were statistically associated with utilization of the partograph. Conclusion: The odd of using the partograph among respondents from hospitals other than tertiary health care facilities was low (AOR=0.048). Hence, this study found that place of practice is a major factor that affects the use of partograph