Falls among pregnant women in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria

Falls during pregnancy are major public health issues and a common cause of maternal injury during pregnancy. There is paucity of data on prevalence and risk factors of falls during pregnancy in African population including Nigeria.

To determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with falls during pregnancy in Enugu, Nigeria.

This was a cross-sectional study of 332 consecutive pregnant women presenting in labor for delivery at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, Nigeria between 1(st) May and 31(st) December, 2012.

The mean age of the women was 32.2 ± 2.7 (range: 20-42) years. One hundred and eight women (32.5%) reported falling at least once during the index pregnancy. Women aged ≤ 30 years had twofold risk of falling during pregnancy than women aged > 30 years [41.1% (69/168) vs. 23.8% (39/164); odds ratio (OR): 2.23; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39-3.58; P < 0.001)]. Similarly, women ≥ 160 cm in height had significantly higher risk of falling during pregnancy than women < 160 cm in height [43.5% (70/161) vs. 22.2% (38/171); OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.23-0.60; P < 0.0001)]. Furthermore, primigravidae had almost threefold risk of falling during pregnancy than multigravidae [45.3% (63/139) vs. 23.3% (45/193); OR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.70-4.37; P < 0.0001)].

Falls during pregnancy is common in Enugu, Nigeria. It is, therefore, recommended that women should be counseled during pregnancy on this public health problem and the above-identified risk factors emphasized in order to reduce the prevalence and morbidity.