Sociodemographic Characteristics and Pregnancy outcome of Referred and Booked Parturients in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Antenatal care (ANC) a component of maternal health care can be defined as care of the woman throughout pregnancy in order to ensure safe delivery of a healthy baby without detrimental effects on the mother's health1. The goal of the ANC package is to prepare for birth and parenthood as well as prevent, detect, alleviate, or manage health problems during pregnancy that affect mothers and babies2 , 3 . These health problems include complications of pregnancy, pre-existing conditions that worsen during pregnancy and effects of unhealthy lifestyles. With a maternal mortality ratio of 630 deaths/100,000 live births, Nigeria still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world4.Nigeria was not able to meet the fourth and fifth Millennium development goals (MDG) which included reduction of child mortality by two thirds for children under five and reduction by three- quarters the maternal mortality ratio by the year 20155.