Emergency Obstetric Care in Parakou: Availability in Maternity Hospitals, Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Providers

Objective: To evaluate the availability of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) inmaternity hospitals in Parakou as well as the knowledge, attitudes and practicesof EmOC providers in 2017. Material and method: This was a descriptive,cross-sectional analytical study conducted in the maternity wards of public andprivate health facilities in Parakou and the health care providers of thematernity wards. Epi Data software version 3.1, Epi Info version 7.2 and EXCEL2007 were used for data processing. Results: A total of 17 maternityhomes and 91 providers participated in the study. All 7 basic functions (BEmOC)were available in 23.53% of these maternities. Providers’ knowledge of EmOC wasgood at 6.59%, average at 15.38%, insufficient at 24.18% and bad at 53.85%. Asfor the attitudes, they were just in 3.30%, approximate in 36.26%, wrong in26.37% and harmful in 34.07%. Regarding the practices of these providers, theywere adequate in 6.59%, inadequate in 38.46% and harmful in 54.95%. The global knowledge,attitudes and practices (CAP) score is acceptable in the majority of providers(57.14%). It is poor in 38.46% and good in 4.40%. Conclusion: In Parakou,the availability of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) contrasts with the level ofknowledge, attitudes and practices of providers who require training in EmOC.