Pregnancies too young, too old, too many and too frequent in Nigeria; prevalence and the effect on birthweight and perinatal mortality

Abstract

Among 2,865 consecutive singleton deliveries at Ilorin, Nigeria, high-risk pregnancies classified as too young, 206 (7.2%); too old, 74 (2.6%); too many, 234 (8.2%): too frequent, 216 (7.5%); and two or more variables 283, (9.8%) accounted for a total of 1013 (33.9%) deliveries. Low birth weight infants are significantly more among high-risk infants, 89 (8.8%), when compared to control infants, 87 (4.7%) (p less than 0.001). Similarly, the relative risk for perinatal mortality was 2.8 to 6.8 times higher among the high-risk pregnancies. A comprehensive programme offering family planning, education and economic opportunities is advocated for prevention.