Knowledge of Obstetric Danger Signs Among Women of Reproductive Age in Rural Communities in Enugu State, Nigeria

Chuka C Agunwa

doi:10.11648/j.ajhr.20150306.20

Abstract

Background: Lack of knowledge of obstetric danger signs, resulting in inability to recognize and probably react to the needs for accessing quality health care remains a major cause of preventable maternal deaths. Objective: To determine the knowledge of obstetric danger signs and its determinants amongst women of reproductive age in rural communities in Nigeria. Materials and methods: A total of 602 women of child bearing age were studied. Data collection employed a pretested, self-administered structured questionnaire and was analysed using statistical package for social sciences version 17. Bivariate analysis was done to identify factors associated with good levels of knowledge of danger signs. Logistic regression was used to identify determinants of a high knowledge score among women. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results were presented in tables and summary indices. Results: Majority of respondents had a poor level of knowledge of obstetric danger signs 286(47.5%). The most mentioned symptom was vaginal bleeding; 358(59.5%). Factors associated with knowledge of obstetric danger signs include: age (p=0.000), marital status (p=0.000), educational level attained (p=0.049) and parity (p=0.000). Attaining tertiary level of education (OR: 3.906), teaching profession (OR: 15.104) self-employed business engagement (OR: 16.144) and a high level of knowledge of disease causation (OR: 3.336) were predictors of the level of knowledge of danger signs among them. Conclusion: We recommend that effective and sustained health education and behavioral change programs with high local content be instituted in our rural communities.

Highlights

Every year more than 200 million women globally become pregnant and some 10% of them are likely to develop complications that will require skilled obstetric care to prevent death or serious ill health [1]
Even when most of the causes of these deaths are either preventable or treatable, it is sad to note that the maternal mortality ratio in Nigeria have shown only marginal reductions in the last ten years, from 704 deaths per 100,000 livebirths to 545 deaths per 100,000 livebirths, such that even as we look beyond 2015 towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this picture ab initio defeats the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets related to maternal health [7]
This study has identified what the level of knowledge of pregnancy danger signs are among rural women and what factors significantly determine the level of that knowledge

Summary

Introduction

Every year more than 200 million women globally become pregnant and some 10% of them are likely to develop complications that will require skilled obstetric care to prevent death or serious ill health [1]. It has been documented that each day some 14,000 women and girls lose their lives to complications from pregnancy and childbirth [2] This picture is further worsened by the fact that about 99% of the causes of maternal mortality in the developing countries are preventable [1, 2]. Lack of knowledge of obstetric danger signs, resulting in inability to recognize and probably react to the needs for accessing quality health care remains a major cause of preventable maternal deaths. Objective: To determine the knowledge of obstetric danger signs and its determinants amongst women of reproductive age in rural communities in Nigeria. Factors associated with knowledge of obstetric danger signs include: age (p=0.000), marital status (p=0.000), educational level attained (p=0.049) and parity (p=0.000). Conclusion: We recommend that effective and sustained health education and behavioral change programs with high local content be instituted in our rural communities

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion