PREVALENCE OF MATERNAL MORBIDITY AND UNINTENDED PREGNANCY AS THE CONSEQUENCES OF INSURGENCY AMONG WOMEN OF CHILD BEARING AGE IN YOBE

This study examined the prevalence of maternal morbidity and unintended pregnancy among women of child bearing age in Yobe State, Nigeria. A descriptive research design of survey type was used for the study. The target population of the study were all the women of child-bearing age attending the selected health facilities in Yobe State with a population of 7501. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to sample 365 respondents from the selected area of the study. A researcher-developed questionnaire validated by three experts was used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was determined using the test re-test method; a coefficient of 0.68 was obtained. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts and the percentage were used to answer the research questions while inferential statistics of Chi-square was used to analyse the postulated hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study revealed that maternal morbidity and unintended pregnancy were prevalent among women of child-bearing age in Yobe State with the calculated values of (x2c = 1476 > x2t = 21.026 and x2c = 1151 > x2t = 21.026) respectively. The study concluded that maternal morbidity and unintended pregnancy are prevalent health challenges among women of child bearing age in Yobe State. The study recommended that women of child-bearing age living in crisis-prone areas should be given adequate maternal health care services through home service; this will go a long way in providing adequate maternal health care services thereby preventing maternal morbidity and unintended pregnancies.