Knowledge of Causes and Preventive Measures of Maternal Mortality among Childbearing Mothers in Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Maternal mortality remains a public health concern. This study investigated knowledge of causes and preventive measures of maternal mortality among childbearing mothers in Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State. Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design. The population for the study consisted of 42,141 CBMs in Owerri Municipal Council. The sample size was 480 CBMs drawn using two stage sampling procedures. A validated questionnaire titled “Knowledge of Causes and Preventive Measures of Maternal Mortality Questionnaire (KCPMMMQ) was used as instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage and chi-square were used to answer and analyse the research questions and hypotheses respectively. Results showed that CBMs in Owerri Municipal Council possessed average knowledge (49.0%) and high knowledge (62.7%) of causes and preventive measures of maternal mortality respectively. CBMs with non-formal education possessed VLK (14.5%) and LK (35.6%) respectively on knowledge of causes and preventive measures of MM, those with primary and secondary education possessed AK while mothers in tertiary education possessed HK and VHK on same issue. Furthermore, the result revealed that there were significant differences in the knowledge of causes and preventive measures of maternal mortality among CBMs Owerri Municipal Council based on level of education. The study recommended among others that women need to be educated on the importance of antenatal visits so that they can have more regular attendance and get informed about safety measures to take during pregnancy and delivery in order to prevent complications and hence reduce maternal mortality.