Page 189 - GHES-3-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Transport and health of pregnant women

In addition, this study highlights lack of money Writing – original draft: Oluwaseun H. Adejumo
as a major factor of transport exclusion among the Writing – review & editing: Olabisi M. Olapoju
respondents, followed by environmental factors, physical
appearance of the respondents, and fear. Other factors Ethics approval and consent to participate
include discrimination, transport costs, affordability, and The Research Ethics Committee of the Department of
accessibility. Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria,
The study confirms the existence of transport exclusion waived the need for ethical approval for this study since
among pregnant women in the study area. The implication verbal consent would only be sufficient for the study.
of these findings, especially considering the significance of The verbal consent of the participants was sought orally
mobility to the respondents in meeting their maternity and before the questionnaire administration was carried out.
other social needs, may have a far-reaching effect on their Participants were informed of the volunteering nature
well-being. Understanding the risks of transport social of the study and were duly informed of their right to
exclusion among pregnant women is important for the discontinue the survey should they want to do so.
government and policymakers to determine easy-to-reach
efficient health facilities for maternity cases. In addition, Consent for publication
dedicated transport for vulnerable groups, like pregnant Verbal consent of the respondents was obtained to publish
women, may be introduced for inclusionary purposes. their responses in an anonymous manner.
Moreover, telemedicine projects could be further enhanced
to provide first-hand access where transport access is Availability of data
found difficult. This aligns with suggestions in studies by Data of this study are available from the corresponding
Stoltzfus et al. (2023) and Gross et al. (2020). Increasing the author upon reasonable request.
use of social media platforms for healthcare information
related to maternity issues should be encouraged as an References
alternative to transport. Home- and community-based Adeola, O., Evans, O., & Ngare, I. (2024). Gender and climate
services, which are types of person-centered care delivered issues in Africa. In: Gender Equality, Climate Action, and
in the home and community as suggested by Musumeci et Technological Innovation for Sustainable Development in
al. (2020) and Robert and Abery (2023), can be adopted Africa. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Germany:
to address the needs of individual pregnant women, Springer Nature.
especially those facing challenges of transport exclusion. Adlakha, D., & Parra, D.C. (2020). Mind the gap: Gender
As this study only examined factors of transport exclusion differences in walkability, transportation and physical activity
in the study area, further studies are required to investigate in urban India. Journal of Transport and Health, 18:100875.
the extent to which exclusion affects pregnant women’s
attendance at medical appointments. This may be needed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2020.100875
to evaluate to what extent the exclusion affects the pregnant Banister, D., & Bowling, A. (2004). Quality of life for the elderly:
women’s attendance at medical appointments and delivery The transport dimension. Transport Policy, 11(2):105-115.
periods. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2003.12.004

Acknowledgments Bergstad, C.J., Gamble, A., Gärling, T., Hagman, O., Polk, M.,
Ettema, D., et al. (2011). Subjective well-being related to
None. satisfaction with daily travel. Transportation, 38:1-15.
Funding https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-010-9301-0

None. Bivina, G.R., Gupta, A., & Parida, M. (2020). Walk accessibility to
metro stations: An analysis based on meso- or micro-scale
Conflict of interest built environment factors. Sustainable Cities and Society,
55:102047.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102047
Author contributions Bhattacharjee, S. (2023). Deprivation and social exclusion of
the dalits: An anthropological observation. Contemporary
Conceptualization: All authors Voice of Dalit, 1-7.
Investigation: Oluwaseun H. Adejumo
Methodology: All authors https://doi.org/10.1177/2455328X231172345
Formal analysis: All authors Börjesson, M., & Rubensson, I. (2019). Satisfaction with crowding

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 181 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.5203