Well-child visits: perceptions of Nigerian mothers

Abstract

Well-child visits have been shown to be of beneft. In Nigeria, many children aged five years and younger do not receive any scheduled preventive healthcare services after the receipt of their last vaccination. This was a descriptive cross-sectional survey. Using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, the perception of mothers on well-child visits was determined. The respondents were mothers who brought their children for immunisation at the Child Welfare Clinic of the Institute of Child Health, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. Almost all of the surveyed mothers 200/203 (98.5%) agreed that their children should regularly engage in well-child visits. Many of the 203 studied mothers 96 (47.3%) preferred monthly visits, while almost 60% wanted the visits to be scheduled outside of routine working hours. Most mothers 178 (87.7%) expected that their children’s health would be ensured through screening for disease. 16.6% of the mothers indicated that they would be unwilling to pay for the service. Nigerian mothers consider well-child visits to be important. Success of their implementation depends on the fexibility of the schedule and the affordability of services.