Knowledge and Attitude Towards Utilisation of Partograph among Midwives in Selected Hospitals in Gombe State, Nigeria

Maternal mortality (MM) has remained high in developing countries including Nigeria. Various interventions for labour care like partograph are known to contribute to the reduction of MM, but reports show that they are not well utilized. Also, there is dearth of information on knowledge and attitudes of midwives towards the use of partograph. Therefore, the study assessed knowledge and attitude of midwives in Gombe state, towards the use of partograph. A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted and 63 participants from three selected hospitals were recruited using purposive sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive data were presented using frequency tables. Hypotheses were tested using Chi-square statistic at p≤ 0.05. The mean age of respondents was 37.2±7.6 years, and 77.8% were married. Majority, 96.8% had good knowledge, 70.6% had a positive attitude towards the use of partographs while only 44.4% utilised it regularly. Also, (57.1%) never attended any workshop on partograph post-graduation. There was no significant association between knowledge of partograph and its utilization (x2=0.026, p=0.103). Factors such as shortage of manpower, poor management support and time constraints were found to negatively influence the partograph utilisation. Despite their good knowledge, partograph utilization was not consistent. It is recommended that hands-on training on the use of partograph be organized periodically and an audit system put in place to ensure its effective use.