Abstract

The study investigated the effect of maternal age, maternal occupation, parity, number of living children and husbands’ educational level on the utilization of maternal health services in Abakaliki urban. A total of 1324 women were randomly selected from different parts of the area. Questionnaire and interview schedule were used for data collection. The results show that maternal age, parity and number of living children have significant effect (P < 0.05) on maternal utilization of health services while maternal occupation and husband educational level do not have significant effect (P ≤ 0.05). It was concluded from the study that the age of the mother, parity and the number of living children have effect on the maternal healthcare utilization and these factors should be considered by nurses and other healthcare providers during antenatal care counseling. 

Key words: Maternal age, maternal occupation, parity, number of living children and husband educational level.