Near Miss Obstetric Events and Its Correlates at a Teaching Hospital in South-South, Nigeria

Background: Maternal Near Miss refers to a woman who nearly died but survived a complication during pregnancy, delivery, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy. It serves as a tool that allows clinicians and health facilities to assess and improve the quality of maternal health care.

Aim and Objectives: To evaluate the factors associated with maternal near-miss morbidity at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).

Materials and Methods: A retrospective institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out at the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. A stratified sampling method was used to select the folders of 610 women who were managed during pregnancy, labour or postpartum period, abortion and ectopic pregnancy between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2020. Data collection tool was used to obtain socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics from folders and SPSS 25 used for analysis. Mean and standard deviation was used to summarize descriptive data, while the test for association was done using chi-square test and logistic regression. The results are presented in tables.

Results: The majority 214 (35.1%) of the women were aged 30 - 34 years, with a mean age of 31.57 ± 5.0 years. Most 541, (88.7%) of the women were married, more than half 335 (54.9%) had tertiary education, while 273 (44.8%) were engaged in partly skilled jobs. About one-fifth 138 (22.6%) of the women were booked. Single marital status (aOR: 2.46; 95% CI: 0.99-6.13; p=0.043), unbooked status (aOR=4.74, 95% CI: 1.93-11.68, p=0.001) gravidity (aOR=3.34, 95% CI: 1.63-6.85, p=0.001) and parity (aOR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.14-0.70, p=0.005) were observed to be significant determinants of MNM.

Conclusion: There is a huge burden of maternal near-miss conditions at UPTH. Early detection and treatment of these potential causes may provide a window of opportunity to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.