Impact Of Poverty On Maternal And Infant Mortality
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Impact Of Poverty On Maternal And Infant Mortality
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the impact of poverty on maternal and newborn mortality in Jos North Local Government Area. Maternal and newborn mortality are not novel concepts in the social and medical sciences.
They both offer severe hazards to human survival, particularly for future generations. It is said that the health of a society’s women and young people determines its destiny.]
The maintenance of society and the economy is heavily dependent on these two groups; therefore, their health and security are critical in order to avoid feelings of hopelessness, sadness, and loss of life. To analyse the impact of this hazard on our area of study, the researcher used a questionnaire as the researcher approach.
The objectives of this study are to determine the rate at which poverty affects the health status of women and children in Jos North, to determine the level of awareness of family planning among Jos North citizens, and to make appropriate recommendations to relevant authorities.
To analyse the impact of the menace in our area of study, the researcher used a questionnaire as the research approach. These included respondents’ demographic information, factors contributing to maternal and child mortality, and a discussion of the findings.
The study ended with several recommendations, including the need for the government and policymakers to address social, economic, and cultural variables within communities to ensure that women have control over their own and their children’s health.
The necessity to enhance access to medical facilities and provide enough resources for malaria treatment instead of expending vast sums of money on HIV/AIDS Based on the foregoing, this initiative hopes to make a significant contribution to reducing maternal and child death rates, although much more is required due to societal changes.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Maternal and child mortality are not novel topics in the social and medical sciences. They both pose major hazards to human survival, particularly among future generations. It is a common adage that the health of a society’s women and youth determines its destiny.
The survival of society and the economy is heavily dependent on these two groups; therefore, their health and security are critical in order to avoid feelings of grief, depression, and loss of life. According to Myles (1953):
The maternal mortality rate is the number of deaths registered during the year of women dying from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth per 1,000 registered total (live and still births), whereas the infant/child mortality rate is the number of deaths registered during the year of age per 1,000 registered births.
This means that maternal mortality refers to deaths caused by difficulties during pregnancy, labour, or childbirth, whereas infant/child mortality refers to any death occurring before the age of one or five.
In contrast, the tenth international classification of diseases (ICD) of the year described maternal death as:
A woman’s death while pregnant or within days of termination of pregnancy, regardless of the duration and location of the pregnancy, from any cause connected to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes. (pp. 2-3).
The American Medical Association (1954) defines maternal mortality rate as follows:
A woman’s death while pregnant or within 90 days of the termination of the pregnancy, regardless of the duration of the pregnancy at the time of termination or the technique used to end it. (p. 4).
There are numerous factors that contribute to maternal and child mortality in developing countries, including complications during pregnancy and childbirth, haemorrhage, which is severe bleeding that typically occurs during postpartum and is unpredictable, sudden, and more dangerous when a woman is anaemic.
If quick treatment is not provided, the loss of blood might result in death. Another risk that might lead to maternal and childbirth complications is protracted and obstructed labour. “Poverty exists when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs.”
These needs, when narrowly defined, are “those needs necessary for survival,” or more broadly, those needs reflecting the prevalent level of living in the community.
Poverty does, in fact, pose a hazard to women of reproductive age in Jos North. This high level of poverty hinders their access to health care, contributing to a higher rate of maternal and child mortality in Nigeria, particularly in Jos North.
At the close of the twentieth century, Sub-Saharan Africa still had high maternal and child death rates, and many governments had failed to achieve the objective of safe motherhood.
A documentary program on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) on May 3, 2007, revealed that malaria fever is extremely dangerous to pregnant women and children, and is more lethal than HIV/AIDS. Malaria is said to kill as many of these groups in one year as HIV/AIDS does in 15 years.
According to Dr. Adekunle (an NTA discussant), Africa accounts for more than 80 percent of the 270 to 400 million clinical cases. Similarly, on March 30, 2007, another broadcast on the same channel (NTA) claimed that malaria fever kills 300,000 Nigerian children under the age of five, as well as eleven out of every hundred pregnant women.
Aside from the death rate from malaria fever among pregnant women and children, Africa Independent Television (AIT) announced on August 6, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. that Nigeria spends more than 130 billion naira on malaria control. Alubo (1997) stated that:
Women in Nigeria face a variety of illnesses and disorders, including the danger of abrupt death after childbirth. Obstructed labour, uterine infection, anaemia, ectopic pregnancy, and cepsis are the most common causes of unexpected mortality during childbirth.
According to Alubo (1997), these issues contribute to maternal mortality during delivery and after childbirth. All of the criteria identified by Alubo, as well as prior presentations of the idea under consideration, demonstrated that women face undue difficulty during and after pregnancy.
To be clear, many factors and complications can contribute to maternal and child mortality, as previously stated, but the impact of poverty on maternal and child mortality is of particular interest, and it is of sociological importance to identify how poverty affects the health of the mother and child, as well as the government’s specific responses.
1.2 A Brief Historical Background of Jos North.
Jos North Area Council has boundaries with Jos South Local Government Area in the south and east, Bassa Local Government Area in the west, and Turo Local Government Area of Bauchi State in the north.
Jos North metropolis is made up of one district, Gwong, and fourteen (14) wards, namely Abba Na Shehu, Ibrahim Kashim, Jos Jarawa, Gangere, Vandapuye, Tafawa Belewa, Jenta Apata, Jenta Adamu, Garba Dawo, Dalhatu, Alikazaure Sarkin Arab, Tudun Wada, Kabong Naraguta “A” and Naraguta “B”.
Jos lies around 400 feet above sea level, and the weather can occasionally drop below freezing. Rainfall normally occurs between April and October each year. The months of December, January, and February are extremely chilly due to the harmattan’s dry wind, latitude, and mountainous terrain.
It is situated on table land, and the vegetation consists of scattered forest reserves and farmlands. However, Jos is a developed area, but part of its population live in places surrounded by hills. Jos’s climate makes tourism a viable sector.
1.3 Statement of the Research Problem
Maternal and child mortality, as previously noted, are not uncommon problems in our culture. They are as old as humanity itself, yet the trend and pattern differ among generations and socioeconomic groups.
In this study, however, the researcher is interested in determining the relationship between family poverty (socioeconomic status) and maternal and child mortality. Mother and child deaths are terrible experiences that damage families and have a negative impact on society and the economy.
Maternal and child mortality is common in many underdeveloped countries. Mothers and children have the highest risk of sickness and mortality. While motherhood can be a rewarding experience for many women, it is often related with illness and even mortality (Olatoye, 2009).
A woman’s mortality during pregnancy, labour, or peuriperium is a tragedy that carries a heavy burden of grief and pain, and it has been identified as a major public health issue in underdeveloped nations. Women have a significant impact on their families’ well-being.
Infant/child deaths under the age of five are unusual and strongly linked to maternal health. Every year, one million children die as a result of their mother’s death, and the risk of death for children under the age of five doubles when mothers die during childbirth.
Every day, almost 25,000 infants die, and one woman dies during childbirth every minute. Every year, over 500,000 women die during childbirth, and more than 9 million children under the age of five die as a result of avoidable diseases. (WHO, 2003).
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