Abstract
This study was to examine religion and female genital mutilation as correlates of maternal mortality in Ekiti State. The study adopted descriptive research design of the survey type which comprises of all 654 health personnel (Doctors and Nurses) in the seventeen (17) general and three (3) specialist hospitals in Ekiti State. The doctors (60 of them) were purposively and proportionately selected from the population while simple random sampling techniques was adopted in selecting 490 Nurses, making a total of 550 samples. A self-structured questionnaire titled: Religion and FGM as Correlates of Maternal Mortality (RFGMCMM) was used for data collection which were analysed using descriptive statistics (Charts) and inferential statistics of Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was also used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there was high maternal mortality cases in Ekiti state and it is as a result of erroneous religion believe and holding to old practice of female genital mutilation. Hence, it was therefore recommended that health workers and health professionals should map out an aggressive campaign and strategies to change the mind set of religious pregnant women by creating awareness on the need for regular antenatal care during pregnancy so that necessary anomalies would be corrected, hence reducing the menace of maternal death. Also, female genital mutilation should be totally condemned. Parents should be educated on the danger and consequences of this act hence averting possible complications during child delivery in the long run. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/76-08 Publication date: June 30th 2020
Highlights
The issue of maternal mortality in Nigeria has been adduced to both medical and social factors and it is believed that the way to take maternal mortality is to simultaneously deal with these factors
This study examined whether maternal mortality is related to the religion of pregnant women and whether female genital mutilation is related to maternal mortality in Ekiti State
Research Questions The following research questions were raised for the study: 1. to what extent does religion of pregnant women contribute to maternal mortality in Ekiti State? 2. to what extent does female genital mutilation contribute to maternal mortality in Ekiti State?
Summary
The issue of maternal mortality in Nigeria has been adduced to both medical and social factors (religion and FGM) and it is believed that the way to take maternal mortality is to simultaneously deal with these factors. It can be said that those who preserve the practice are largely women who live in traditional societies in rural areas. Most of these women follow tradition passively. FGM is generally done in girls younger than 10 years and leads to varying amounts of scar formation. The presence of this scar tissue, which is less elastic than the perineal and vaginal tissue would normally be, might cause differing degrees of obstruction and tears or episiotomy (Shandall 2007). Studies have suggested that adverse obstetric outcomes such as episiotomy, tears, protracted labour, postpartum haemorrhage might be more common in deliveries in women who have had FGM (Hakim, 2012; De Silva, 2013)
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