Table of Contents:

DECLARATION: ............................................................................................................................................... i

DEDICATION:................................................................................................................................................. ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:................................................................................................................................. iii

LIST OF TABLES:............................................................................................................................................ vi

LIST OF FIGURES:......................................................................................................................................... vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................ viii

ABSTRACT:.................................................................................................................................................... ix

CHAPTER ONE ...............................................................................................................................................1

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION................................................................................................................1

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT............................................................................................................................5

1.3 STUDY JUSTIFICATION.............................................................................................................................5

1.4.0 STUDY OBJECTIVES...............................................................................................................................6

1.4.1 MAIN OBJECTIVE:.................................................................................................................................6

1.4.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: ..........................................................................................................................6

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTION .............................................................................................................................6

1.6 A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................7

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................................................8

2.1 Introduction: ...........................................................................................................................................8

2.2 Social factors affecting utilisation of Postnatal care services.................................................................9

2.3 Factors within Health facilities..............................................................................................................10

2.4 Maternal and child disease conditions.................................................................................................12

2.5 Demographic factors.............................................................................................................................13

2.6 ANC attendance: ...................................................................................................................................14

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................................16

3.1 STUDY DESIGN: .....................................................................................................................................16

3.2 STUDY SETTING: ....................................................................................................................................16

3.3 STUDY POPULATION: ............................................................................................................................17

3.4 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION:............................................................................................................17

3.5 SELECTION CRITERIA: ............................................................................................................................18

3.6 DATA COLLECTION: ...............................................................................................................................18

3.7 DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION...................................................................................................18

3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ...................................................................................................................19

3.9 QUALITY CONTROL................................................................................................................................19

3.10 DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS..............................................................................................................19

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS OF THE STUDY ...................................................................................................20

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................38

5.0 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS ......................................................................................................................38

5.1 ATTENDANCE OF PNC: ..........................................................................................................................38

5.2 SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AND PNC UTILISATION.....................................................................38

5.3 HEALTH FACILITY FACTORS: ..................................................................................................................45

5.4 MATERNAL AND INFANT HEALTH CONDITION FACTORS: ....................................................................48

5.5 HEALTH SYSTEM FACTORS: ...................................................................................................................50

5.6 ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES OF THE MOTHERS:...................................................................................51

5.7 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................54

5.8 RECOMMENDATIONS: ..........................................................................................................................54

REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................................55

APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNAIRE ....................................................................................................................... a

APPENDIX 2: HOSPITAL CHECKLIST FOR PNC SERVICES PROVIDED:............................................................. c

APPENDIX 3: RESPONDENTS’ CONSENT FORM............................................................................................. e

APPENDIX 4: LETTER OF INTRODUCTION FROM THE UNIVERSITY ................................................................f

APPENDIX 5: LETTER OF PERMISSION FROM THE LOCAL COUNCIL.............................................................. g

APPENDIX 6: MAP OF UGANDA ....................................................................................................................h

APPENDIX 7: MAP OF UGANDA SHOWING ISHAKA....................................................................................... i

ABSTRACT: 

Background: According to the situation analysis of newborn health, routine postnatal care (PNC), particularly highlighting care during the first few days of life is a major gap in the guidelines in Uganda. Improvement in attendance of antenatal care (ANC) services and having health facility based deliveries by majority of mothers still leaves attendance of PNC a major challenge to an extent that it is not even offered at some health facilities. There is need to reduce the risks associated with poor post natal care service implementation and to improve the attendance of postnatal care by the mothers. This study was carried out to find out what factors influence mothers’ attendance of postnatal care services. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from mothers in Ishaka town; 87 mothers were interviewed. A checklist was employed to collect information from the different health facilities. The data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0 and Microsoft Excel 2007 version. Results: A total of 87 mothers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. 77% (67 mothers) did not attend PNC, with attendance at only 23% (20 mothers). In bivariate analysis, a number of factors were found to be associated with PNC utilisation as shown. Conclusion: There are still existent gaps in the awareness and importance of PNC services, confounded by the lack of education by health service providers, in addition to other factors affecting its utilisation.