महिला स्वास्थ्य देखभाल जर्नल
खुला एक्सेस

अमूर्त

Subsequent Childbirth among Obstetric Fistula Survivors with Unrepaired Fistulas in South Eastern Nigeria

Ileogben Sunday-Adeoye, Nelson Egwu and Julie Adeoye

Objective: Obstetric fistula (OF) is one of the worst childbirth morbidities with medico-social consequences like amenorrhoea, infertility and marital disharmony. This study seeks to document the profile of Obstetric fistula survivors who had subsequent childbirth (Subsequent Childbirth group-(SCBG) with unrepaired OF and to compare their profile with the profile of the rest of the study population who did not achieve a childbirth Non Childbirth Group- (NCBG).
Setting: The setting was the Southeast Fistula Centre, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Population: Two hundred and eighty-two clients with unrepaired OF participated
Method: This was a cross-sectional study.
Results: The prevalence of childbirth among the study population was 30%. The median age for the childbirth group was 45.8years. The median duration of fistula was 7.5years and 5.3years for the child birth group and the non child birth group respectively. Fifty-seven percent of the childbirth group were still married as against 60.6% for non child birth group. The prevalence of childlessness was 25% and 47% for the child birth group and the non childbirth group respectively. The prevalence of secondary amenorrhoea was 22% and 41% in the SCBG and NCBG respectively.
Conclusion: Despite the limitation of this cross-sectional quantitative study, its findings calls for a more elaborate study on the social context of obstetric fistula in south east Nigeria.