Abstract

Introduction Emergency obstetric kits (EOK) improve the survival of mothers and newborns. Method A survey was carried out among 70 health care providers from health care facilities of the Maroua health district who use the EOK. We evaluated the knowledge on the components of the kits, the attitude of the personnel in case one of the components of the EOK is absent. Results More than half (58.6%) of the staff interviewed were nursing assistants. The EOK for deliveries do not contain non-sterile examination gloves, while those for cesarean sections do not have analgesics. However, most staff (72.8%) declared the delivery kit was complete; just as 74.1% declared the cesarean sections kit was complete. Only 10.0% of the staff knew that the foaming antiseptic solution was useful for simple deliveries, while 25.8% believed that Polyvidone iodine was unnecessary in the delivery kit. A minority of the staff knew that when one of the kit’s components was unavailable, the hospital pharmacist was mandated to provide them and later renew the stock at the supply center. These were 31.4% and 33.3% of the respondents surveyed on delivery and cesareansection kits respectively. Most (52.8%) gave a prescription to the family to purchase the missing component and 48.5% did not take any steps when it came to the cesarean kit. Conclusion A capacity building training on the usefulness and management of the kits would enable their optimal use in the fight against maternal and neonatal mortality.

Authors and Affiliations