Abstract
BackgroundGlobally, infant mortality has declined considerably but has remained unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria where infant mortality rate is 67/1000 live births. To facilitate infant mortality reduction in Nigeria, an understanding of the synergistic effect of bio-demographic characteristics of mothers known as High Risk Birth Behaviours (HrBBs) is important. We therefore investigated the influence of HrBBs on infant survival in Nigeria.MethodsThis cross-sectional study design utilized data from the 2018 round of Nigerian Demographic Health Survey. The study participants were a representative sample of women of reproductive age (n = 21,350) who had given birth within the 5 years preceding the survey. HrBBs was measured through integration of information on maternal age at child’s birth, parity, and preceding birth interval with respect to the most recent child. The HrBBs was categorized as none, single and multiple. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model (α =0.05).ResultsThe mean age of the women was 29.7 ± 7.2 and 4.1% had experienced infant death. Infant mortality was highest among women with multiple HrBBs (5.1%). Being a male, having small size at birth, failure to receive tetanus injection, non-use of contraceptives and living in the core-north (North West and North East) predisposed children to higher risk of dying before 12 months of age. The hazard ratio of infant mortality was significantly higher among infants of mothers in multiple HrBBs category (aHR = 1.66; CI: 1.33–2.06) compared to their counterparts with no HrBBs.ConclusionMultiple HrBBs increase the chances of dying among infants in Nigeria. Screening women for HrBBs for special health attention during pregnancy, birth and postnatal period will alleviate infant death in Nigeria.
Highlights
Infant Mortality which is the probability of a child dying between birth and the first birthday is one of the most useful indicators for assessing the general level of health and development of a society
A study by Yogev et al to determine pregnancy outcome at advanced maternal age reported that advanced maternal age of greater than 35 years is associated with higher risk of maternal, hormonal disorder, and low uteroplacental blood flow which increases the risk of congenital and chromosomal abnormalities such as downs syndrome that results in fetal complications with resultant infant death [17]
Most infants (60.3%), lived in a rural area, 35.0% were from the North-west region and 46.6% were of Hausa/Fulani ethnicity
Summary
Infant Mortality which is the probability of a child dying between birth and the first birthday is one of the most useful indicators for assessing the general level of health and development of a society. In Nigeria, previous studies have estimated a decline in IMR from 125 in 1990 to 67 in 2018 [3, 4] Despite this achievement in IMR reduction over the years, the current level is higher than the IMR estimates for other countries in SSA like South Africa (28/1000), Kenya (31/1000) and Ghana (35/1000) which are already close to achieving the SDGs - target 3. We investigated the influence of HrBBs on infant survival in Nigeria
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
