SOURCE:

Faculty: Education
Department: Human Kinetics And Health Education

CONTRIBUTORS:

Eze-Ufodiama, S. C.
Okafor, J. O.

ABSTRACT:

Pregnancy complications are one of the fatal health problems under the umbrella of reproductive health problems which has public health importance. This study was designed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of common pregnancy complications among pregnant women in Owerri Capital Territory, Imo State from 2010 to 2014. Eight research questions and eight null hypotheses guided the study. Ex-post facto survey research design was used for the study. The target population consisted of twenty-two thousand, two hundred and fifty-eight (22,258) case files of all pregnant women who attended ante-natal clinics, delivered or referred to the four selected hospitals in Owerri Capital Territory Imo State. Eleven thousand, nine hundred and seventy-five (11,975) case files of pregnant women who had complications during the period were selected from the total attendee. The Data Collection Guide was designed based on information contained in the case files of the pregnant women of the study. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts; rates and percentages to answer the research questions, while inferential statistics of Chi-square (χ2) at 0.05 level of significance was used to test the null hypotheses. The result of the study among others showed that the prevalence rate of common pregnancy complications was high in Owerri Capital Territory over the five-year period. These data revealed that malaria had highest prevalence rate (7.9) followed by haemorrhage (5.8) and sexually transmitted infections (5.6), while gestational diabetes (1.8) and uterine rupture (1.4) recorded the lowest prevalence rate of these complications. Pregnant women aged 35 years and above revealed highest prevalence (35.4%) of common pregnancy complications while those aged 15-24 years had lowest prevalence (31.9%). Prevalence rate of pregnancy complications among pregnant women differed significantly in Owerri Capital Territory based on years (P<0.05). Prevalence based on various ages (P < 0.05). However, the study showed that there was no significant difference in the number of maternal deaths that resulted from common pregnancy complications among pregnant women in Owerri Capital Territory of Imo State (P > 0.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that adequate comprehensive maternal health services should be provided for all pregnant women by Federal and State governments. The health of pregnant women 35 years and above, as well as the multigravidae and grandmultigravida should be given priority attention through adequate funding of maternal health services.