title: Pregnancy-associated morbidity in Northern Nigeria.
abstract: We sought to determine the magnitude and spatio-temporal pattern of maternal morbidity in Kano State, Nigeria. Analysis was on deliveries within the period 1990-1999. We counted 59772 maternal complications among 171621 deliveries, yielding an overall maternal morbidity ratio of 34.8%. We observed yearly variations and increment in the number of complications among mothers (p=0.04). A total of 4154 maternal deaths were registered within the period. The level of maternal deaths correlated significantly with burden of morbidity (r=0.44; p=0.0008). Case fatality rate was 6.9% with temporal fluctuations, and wide variations among the various health institutions. Our study revealed an extremely high morbidity ratio, which indicates that a high proportion of pregnant mothers are in need of essential obstetric care in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama 35294, USA. hsalihu@uab.edu
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Salihu
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Adamu
authors.forename: Z Y
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Aliyu
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Aliyu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008428:Maternal Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000401:mortality; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000401:mortality*; D012189:Retrospective Studies