Abstract:

This study was conducted to find the beliefs about caesarean section amongst women of childbearing age in UCTH Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. In the course of the study, five research questions and five hypotheses were formulated to direct the study. A survey method was used which is indicative in interview and discussions with people to obtain facts. The population of study was 853 pregnant women who came for antennal clinic in UCTH Calabar within the month of January 2017 with sampling size of 85 women. Accidental sampling method was used with a structured questionnaire—‘Questionnaires on beliefs about caesarean section among women of child bearing age in UCTH Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria’. Same was administered by the researcher and his assistant and the data was analysed with mean, standard deviation, chi-square and One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The result revealed that there are significant influences of traditional and religious beliefs on caesarean section amongst women of childbearing age. The result further showed that there is significant difference in belief about caesarean section amongst women of childbearing age based on their educational qualifications, income status and number of children. It was recommended that there should be proper enlightenment of pregnant women over the relevance of caesarean section in the churches, communities and schools.

Keywords: Caesarean section, women of child bearing age, tradition beliefs, religious beliefs.

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