MATERNAL, INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD NUTRITION INTERVENTIONS IMPLEMENTED IN FIFTY HEALTH CARE CENTERS IN FIVE LGAS OF BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA

It is important to integrate Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) related interventions to improve and help strengthen nutrition services at the healthcare system. The objective of this study is to identify the types of MIYCN interventions implemented at the health facilities, highlighting the different types of interventions that should be implemented and recommend ways to improve the implementation of these interventions at the Health Care Centers. It was a cross sectional study with a total of 200 Health care workers sampled in fifty (50) health care centres in five selected LGAs of Bayelsa State, which was selected purposively. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to obtain the respondents information on the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition interventions implemented at the various health facilities. In this study, the data entry were done with pie charts, Bar charts and Histograms to represent the frequency of nutrition intervention implemented in the health facilities, nutrition program implementation, special clinic and outreach days in the health facilities. Also, information on MIYCN Training and Implementation status were also presented, the challenges faced in MIYCN implementation and recommendations for Improvement were also reported by the healthcare workers. The study help to create awareness on the recommended various MIYCN interventions that should be implemented at the Health care system to improve maternal, infant and young child nutrition interventions. It was also noted that MIYCN programmes are not given the necessary attention at the health facilities, and there were no designated clinic and outreach days for MIYCN interventions.