Postpartum maternal morbidity in Jos, North-Central Nigeria

Postpartum maternal morbidity is a serious public health problem. Major acute and long-term obstetric morbidities affect the life and reproductive career of women.

To determine the incidence, pattern and associated factors of postpartum maternal morbidity in the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and offer suggestions on various interventions to reduce this postpartum morbidity.

This was a 3-year prospective observational study at the JUTH between April 2005 and March 2008. All patients who delivered or were treated in the hospital for postpartum morbidity were recruited for the study.

A total of 9056 women delivered, of which 246 (2.72%) were treated for postpartum morbidity. Most of the patients (32.9%) were between 25 and 29 years old. A majority of the women (58.5%) were of Parity 2 to 4. House officers and senior house officers supervised most (43.5%) of the deliveries. The most common postpartum maternal morbidity was primary postpartum hemorrhage (35.4%). This was followed by hypertensive disorders (24.8%) and genital tract sepsis (16.7%). There was a statistically significant relationship between accoucher and postpartum maternal morbidity.

The incidence of postpartum morbidity was high, with hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders and genital tract sepsis being common problems. It is hoped that supervision of deliveries by skilled medical personnel and active management of the third stage of labor will reduce the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage.