Prevalence and Causes of Maternal Mortality in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Maternal mortality has become a global issue attracting attention from governmental and Non-governmental organizations. In the light of this, this study investigated prevalence and causes of maternal mortality in Ekiti State. The study was a descriptive research design of the survey type. The population for the study comprised of all the 66 Doctors and 588 Nurses in the 20 general and specialist hospitals in Ekiti State. The sample for the study consisted of 60 doctors and 490 nurses who were selected using random sampling and proportionate sampling techniques. Data were collected with the use of a structured questionnaire titled: Cases and Causesof maternal mortality (CCMM). The reliability of the instrument was estimated using test- retest method with the reliability coefficient of 0.74 obtained. The data collected were analyzed using the descriptive statistics of frequency counts, simple percentages and mean for the general questions and inferential statistics of Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation for the hypotheses. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed there was high maternal mortality cases in Ekiti state and it is as a result of poor educational status and early marriage with early pregnancy. It was therefore recommended that more awareness should be created on the causes of maternal mortality by the government, NGOs and other health regulated agencies, hence reducing this menace of maternal death. Pregnant women should be educated by health workers on how successfully handle pregnancy related cases during complications and adolescent should be orientated on the consequences of early pregnancy since they are the most victims of maternal cases.

DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/64-06

Publication date:July 31^st 2019