Maternal health services (MHS) provide primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of
prevention to achieve better pregnancy outcomes. However, use of prenatal and natal
services among Nigerian women has been ranked among the lowest in the world and,
consequently, the country is among the 10 countries with the highest maternal mortality
ratio. Moreover, nationwide community-based studies on the use of maternal health
services in Nigeria are limited. To address this gap, this quantitative, cross-sectional
study analyzed the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) data to
identify whether Nigerian women’s biological, cultural, and socioeconomic
characteristics are associated with their use of MHS and pregnancy outcome as measured
by number of antenatal visits, place of delivery, and fetal outcome. The Anderson’s
health behavior model was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Respondents
were women aged 15 – 49 years (N= 31,985), who had given birth between January 2003
and December 2008. Bivariate and multiple logistic regressions were conducted. The
results indicated that religion, education, income, and availability of skilled health
workers showed consistent significant statistical association with both the number of ante
natal care (ANC) visits and place of delivery even after controlling for covariates.
Overall, these findings have potential for social change on the choice of public health
interventions with collaboration with social services such as education, community, and
labor sectors. Further, a systematic involvement of local communities is needed to drive
specific culturally-sensitive interventions.