Maternal autonomy on health in a community as assessed by signing of consent for caesarean section and its sociodemographic correlates

Abstract

Objective: To assess the level of maternal autonomy in a Nigerian community using maternal preference to sign the consent for caesarean section as the assessment tool and to evaluate the sociodemographic and obstetric correlates. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of parturients 2–5 days after caesarean delivery in a tertiary health facility in Benin City, Nigeria using a pretested interviewer administered questionnaire to obtain information on whom they would prefer to sign the consent form for caesarean section. Results: A total of 197 parturients were interviewed. The consent form was signed by 177 (90%) of the respondents. However, 96 (48.7%) preferred their spouses to sign. Maternal attainment of tertiary level education and a higher mean maternal age was significantly associated with maternal preference to sign the consent form. Conclusion: The level of maternal autonomy on reproductive health issues based on this simple survey is less than satisfactory. However, this study has provided baseline data for surveillance and follow-up studies of this important variable.

Keywords::

• Maternal mortality
• Millennium Development Goals
• Nigeria
• reproductive health
• women empowerment

Declaration of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.