Spatial Pattern of Maternal Morbidity of Women of Childbearing Age Attending Health Facilities in Anambra State, Nigeria (2014-2016)

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the spatial pattern of maternal morbidity of women of childbearing age attending health facilities in Anambra State, Nigeria. One research question was formulated and one hypothesis postulated to guide the study. Cross sectional research design was adopted to achieve the objective of the study. 400 subjects were randomly sampled using Taro Yamane’s formula with multi-stage sampling procedure from 32,255 population of women registered in public health facilities in Anambra State. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire (MMPQ) was 0.90, established through Cronbach Alpha statistic. Quantitative data from 400 copies of completed MMPQ were collected and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) batch system version 20. Research question was answered using frequency and percentage while the hypothesis was tested at .05 level of significance using Chi-square. Findings of the study indicated that the proportion of women who reported morbidity during pregnancy in the rural areas (63.5%) were more than the proportion of women who reported morbidity in the urban area (40.0%) during pregnancy and the proportion of women who reported morbidity during labour/childbirth in rural area was 39.7% more than 33.3% of the women in the urban areas. The findings further revealed that there was significant difference in the spatial pattern of maternal morbidity during pregnancy while there were no significant differences in the spatial pattern of maternal morbidity during labour/childbirth and postpartum periods. The study recommended among others that the government and health workers should organize seminars and workshops for women, paying more attention to those who reside in the rural areas on the need to take care of themselves during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum periods by seeking care from appropriate source.