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Global Research Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.2(1) pp.009 – 012 March 2012
Available online http://www.globalresearchjournals.org/journal/?id=GRJMS
Copyright ©2012 Global Research Journals
Full Length Research.
THE HAZARDS OF HIGH PARITY: DO THE WOMEN KNOW? FINDINGS FROM UYO, NIGERIA.
Dr Augustine Vincent Umoh FWACS and Dr Gabriel Mathias Abah FWACS
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,University of Uyo Teaching Hospital PMB 1136, Uyo, Nigeria.
Corresponding Author’s Email: avumoh@gmail.com avumo@yahoo.com ,Phone no. +2348035081148
Accepted 4th October 2011.
Abstract
Obstetric risks increase with increasing parity and particularly with grandmultiparity. Knowledge of these risks is important in making fertility decisions. We undertook the study to find out the awareness of these risks among our women and contribute useful information in developing future family planning strategies in our region. This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study among antenatal women in two health facilities in Uyo, Nigeria. Results show that 87.5% of women were aware of some risks associated with having many children while 12.5% were not. The most common risks mentioned were poor health of surviving children (56.4%), poor health of the mother (44.8%), death at delivery (20.7%) and excessive bleeding (19.7%). The identification of risks of high parity was significantly related to education (p=0.016) and the age of the respondent (p=0.003). There was however no significant relationship between the identification of risks of high parity and religion (p=0.610) or parity (p=0.638) of respondent. In conclusion, our study shows that that while women in Uyo are aware that there are dangers associated with high parity, they generally have poor knowledge of these dangers. It is important to utilize the antenatal period and women’s contact with the health system to provide appropriate information on grandmultiparity in order to help women make informed choices with regards to their fertility.
Keywords: Parity, grandmultiparity, Fertility, fertility desire, contraception, Nigeria.