Influence of Maternal Mortality on Community Development in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State
CHAPTER ONE
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study was to find out the influence of maternal mortality on community development in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Specifically, the study was meant to find out:
- The causes of maternal mortality in Njikoka Local Government Area;
- How maternal mortality influences economic development of communities in Njikoka Local Government Area;
- How maternal mortality influences educational development of communities in Njikoka Local Government Area;
- How maternal mortality influences social development of communities in Njikoka Local Government Area;
- How maternal mortality influences the health development of communities in Njikoka Local Government Area.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The review of relevant literature is an exercise in which the researcher tried to identify, locate, read and evaluate previous studies, observations, opinions and comments related to her intended research topic (Nworgu 2006). The literature review to this study is presented under the following headings:
- Conceptual Framework
- Theoretical Framework
- Empirical Studies on maternal mortality
- Summary of review of literature.
Conceptual Framework
This deals with the concept of maternal mortality, influence of maternal mortality on Community Development, prevalence of maternal mortality, causes of maternal mortality, and intervention strategies by the government.
Conceptual Framework on Maternal Mortality:
i) The concept of maternal mortality
ii) Causes of maternal mortality
iii) The concept of community, development and community development
iv) Influence on economic development
v) The concept of development
vi) The concept of community development
vii) Influence on Economic Development
viii) Influence on educational development
ix) Influence on social development
x) Influence on health development
xi) Prevalence of maternal mortality
xii) Intervention Strategies by the Government
The concept of maternal mortality:
The World Health Organization (WHO 1995) defines maternal mortality as the death of women during pregnancy or within 42 days after pregnancy or irrespective of the duration or the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggregated by the pregnancy or its management.
Halfdan (1999) defined maternal mortality, as “a neglected tragedy, neglected because those who suffer it are neglected people, the poor, the rural and above all women”.
Rosenfield (1998) defined maternal mortality as a social injustice that reflects society’s failure to value and protect women. Women should not die just because they are women. Governments must recognize their responsibilities to provide for the special care that women need, starting from birth, continuing through childhood and adolescence, and particularly during pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, maternal mortality can be defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy and after child delivery.
ii) Causes of Maternal Mortality
Below, figure 1.4 provides the most recent available breakdown of causes of maternal mortality in Nigeria from the Federal Ministry of Health (1998).
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This chapter discussed the methodology for the study. It was discussed under the following subheadings: design of the study, area of the study, the population of the study, the sample and sampling techniques, instrumentation, procedure for data collection and method of data analysis.
Design of the Study
The researcher used public opinion survey. Public opinion survey is designed to find out the opinion of people in a given area or location towards an issue of event that is of interest to the generality of the populace in the area (Nworgu 2006). The researcher used this design because the study was designed to find out the influence of maternal mortality on community development.
Area of Study
The study was conducted in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State. Njikoka Local Government is situated at Awka-Orlu upland. The area is also part of Anambra river basin, located in the southern part of the state. It is bounded in the east by Anaocha Local Government Area, Idemili in the west, Dunukofia in the south, Awka South Local Government Area in the northern part.
The research was conducted in four major communities in Njikoka Local Government Area comprising Abagana, Nimo, Abba and Enugwu-Ukwu. This area was selected because, there are no adequate health facilities resulting to high rate of maternal mortality in the area.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
This chapter presents the results in tables showing the analysis of the data obtained. The data were arranged according to the personal profiles. The percentages of respondents in personal profile were calculated and research questions. Mean was used to analyse the research questions and the corresponding standard deviation for each item was determined from the data obtained.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter deals with the summary of the findings made by the researcher. It will also indicate what recommendations are being made which arise from the findings. The results will be discussed; the implication of the study, recommendations, suggestions for further study and the limitations of the study are also discussed.
Summary of Major Findings
- The sex profile of the study reveals that male respondents out numbered the female respondents with a little margin.
- Majority of the respondents are within the age range of 41 – 45 years.
- Among the adults majority of them were married are very percentage as singles, engaged, divorcees and widowed.
- The educational qualification of the respondents was on the average since those who posses O/L certificate was higher.
- The findings revealed that traders are more in number than those in other occupations.
- The causes of maternal mortality are haemorrhage, cephalopelvic disproportion, anaemia, sepsis, eclampsia, patronage of traditional birth attendants and lack of adequate health facilities.
- Maternal mortality has negative influence on economic development of communities.
- Maternal mortality has negative influence on educational development of communities.
- Maternal mortality has negative influence on social development of communities.
- Maternal mortality has negative influence on health development on communities.
- For the hypothesis, (Ho) since the z-calculated (0.56) is lesser than the z-critical (±1.96), the null hypothesis is not rejected and the alternative hypothesis is rejected.
Therefore, there is no significant difference between the mean score of males and females responses to the influence of maternal mortality on the community development.
Discussion
The chapter presents the discussion of the result derived from the study which are interpreted and discussed. The implication of the study, recommendations, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies are also discussed.
This research work tries to determine the influence of maternal mortality on community development in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State. This was done under the following research questions:
Causes of Maternal Mortality on Community Development in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State: From the analysis of data in chapter 4 the answers to research questions 1 reveals that most adults agreed on the fact that cephalopelvic disproportion, patronage of TBAs, haemorrhage, improper treatment of malaria during pregnancy, sepsis, eclampsia and lack of adequate health facilities in hospitals, infectious diseases during pregnancy, induced hypertension during pregnancy are causes of maternal mortality. Majority of the respondents agreed that cephalopelvic disproportion and patronage of traditional birth attendants causes maternal mortality. Cephalopelvic disproportion means when the infants head cannot pass through the birth canal. Cephalopelvic disproportion is a situation in which a woman’s pelvic growth is impaired probably due to mal-nourishment in childhood. This causes prolonged or obstructed labour when the baby’s head cannot pass through the birth canal of a woman which leads to maternal mortality. This condition can be handled mainly by medical experts (Federal Ministry of Health 1998).
Despite the high level of awareness as revealed in this study, and strict abortion laws in Nigeria, there are indicators that induced abortion is still widely practiced among women in the rural areas who patronize TBAs. Internationally, experience has also shown that decriminalizing abortion related complications and deaths (Adetoro 1998).
Patronage of TBAs during pregnancy causes maternal mortality. The study revealed that majority of people are aware that patronage of TBAs during pregnancy and labour causes maternal mortality though, they still patronize TBAs, probably, due to high level of poverty and non-availability of health centres in their localities. This is in line with Madu and Ohaeri (1998) who stated that due to illiteracy, ignorance and poverty and a strong belief in “Supernatural intervention in pregnancy and childbirth, many women in Nigeria go to the traditional healers. In general, women who patronize these services believe that a child is a gift from God and that childbirth is a mysterious and supernatural event. They also believe that traditional healers are mediators between God and man, and are in a better position to assist during the supernatural processes of pregnancy and childbirth. It is therefore, important to note that even when modern, trained providers are available, many of our women prefer the traditional care at delivery.
Implication of the Study
This study has some implication for the parents, health workers, development agents, government and non-governmental organizations as well as society on the scourge of maternal mortality and why the struggle for its reduction has not yielded the expected results.
The parents, health workers, development agents, government and non-governmental organization shall be acquainted with new methods to fight against the high rate of maternal mortality. The study showed that adults should strive hard to increase their level of awareness on the causes of maternal mortality while government on its part should intensify its effort on providing health facilities and enlightening the masses on ways of avoiding maternal mortality in the communities. This study will also acquaint health workers and development agents on new strategies and ways of acquiring modern technology to fight the scourge.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made:
- Adults should be actively used in the awareness campaign programmes on maternal mortality.
- Government should provide health facilities such as qualified health personnel, equipments, hospitals and primary health centres in all communities.
- Women empowerment programmes should be introduced to improve women economic and social status. This will reduce induced hypertension that most women experience during pregnancy.
- Local languages should be used during enlightenment campaign for the understanding of all adults, educated and un-educated in the communities.
- Development agents should use dramas in local languages to capture the minds of the people on the danger of patronizing TBAs.
Suggestions for Further Studies
The researcher recommended that further research may be carried out in the following areas.
- A study of this nature may be carried out to determine the influence of maternal mortality on socio-cultural practices of the people.
- A study of this nature may also be carried out on attitude of health practitioners on success of maternal mortality control measure
Limitations of the Study
The researcher only sampled 400 adults which represents 1.6% of entire population of adults in the area of study. This was due to the fact that it was not possible for the researcher to use the entire population for the study. The researcher encountered problem of lack of co-operation from the respondents. Majority of the respondents were not willing to respond to the questions due to lack of awareness. However, the researcher engaged in detailed explanations of the purpose of the study before some of the respondents could yield to the researcher’s request.
Summary of the Study
The purpose of this study was to find out the influence of maternal mortality on community development in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State.
In pursuance of the above mentioned objective, five research questions were proposed. One hypothesis was also postulated. The instrument used was the researchers made questionnaire titled “Influence of Maternal Mortality on community development in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State”. Reviewed of the related literature was done under the several headings which provided the researcher with information on what has been done in the areas as well as a sound conceptual framework of the study. Subjects of the study constituted 400 adults sampled from 4 communities in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State. The researcher questions were analysed using percentage, mean score and standard deviation, while the hypothesis was tested using z-test statistics. The result revealed:
- The cephalopelvic disproportion and dependent on traditional birth attendants for ante-natal care causes maternal mortality.
- Infectious diseases during pregnancy, excessive bleeding after birth and malaria infection during pregnancy are the major causes of maternal mortality.
- Death of women has a negative influence on economic development of communities.
- Maternal mortality has a negative influence on educational development of communities.
- Maternal mortality has a negative influence on social development of communities.
- Maternal mortality has a negative influence on health development of communities.
- There is no significant difference between the mean score of males and females responses to the influence of maternal mortality on community development.
The Implications of the Research Findings, recommendations, suggestions for further research and limitation of the study were also highlighted.
Conclusion
Maternal mortality is a plague that has hit the whole world. It hinders all round development of society. Maternal mortality does not only affect the immediate family of the victim but it hinders all round development of the society. To avoid this negative influence cause by maternal mortality, all hands must be on deck to reduce this natural phenomenon.
Every year, more than 200 million women become pregnant, and at least 15% are likely to develop complications that will require skilled obstetric care to prevent death or serious ill-health. All women, whether their pregnancies are complicated or not, need good quality maternal health services during pregnancy, delivery and in the postpartum period to ensure their health and that of their infants. High quality maternal health services must be accessible, affordable, effective, appropriate for and acceptable to the women who need them.
REFERENCES
- damson, J.B. (1998) The Issue of Maternal Mortality in Obsterics and Gynaecology in the Tropics and Developing Countries. London: Rutledge and Kegan Paul.
- Ademowore, A.S (2001) Review of Maternal Mortality at Wesley Guild, Ilesha, Nigeria in Obsterics and Gynaecology in Developing Countries. Proceeding of an International Conference at Ibadan.
- Adetoro, A.C (1998) Some Socio-Psychological aspects of Fertility among Women in an African City. Nig. J. Econ. Soc. Res. 9:67 – 79.
- Adewumi, and Adeleye, E.E. O.A (2000) Maternal Mortality in Ibadan City. W. Afr. J. Med. 5:121 – 127.
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- Ali, A. (2006). Conducting Research in Education and Social Science, Enugu: Tashiwa Networks Ltd.
- Anambra State Action Committee on Census figure from National Population Commission 2005 Njikoka Local Government Council (2006)