Awareness, knowledge, risk perception and uptake of maternal vaccination in rural communities of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Introduction: Knowledge and uptake of maternal vaccination has been reported to be low in low- and middle-income countries. Objectives: To determine the knowledge, uptake and determinants of uptake of maternal vaccination among women of childbearing age. Methods: A cross sectional study was done among 607 women of childbearing age selected from rural communities in Ebonyi State using multi-staged sampling technique. A pretested, interviewer administered questionnaire was used. The proportion of maternal vaccination uptake and predictors of uptake was determined at 5% level of significant using multiple logistic regression model. Results: Most of the respondents (39.9%) were in the 15-24 years age group. Only 1.3% and 41.5% were knowledgeable and had received any form of maternal vaccines respectively. The main reasons adduced for non-receipt of the vaccine was lack of information (65.8%) and not being pregnant (23.5%). Pregnancy was the predictor for uptake of maternal vaccine among the study population. Conclusions: There was low level of knowledge and uptake of maternal vaccine among rural women and a myth that the vaccine is only given when pregnant. This calls for increase targeted enlightenment of rural women on maternal vaccine in order to improve uptake. Keywords: Maternal vaccination; rural communities; Nigeria.