Factors Influencing Inter-Pregnancy Interval among Antenatal Attendee in a Tertiary Hospital in Abakaliki, South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: World over, there has being an improvement in birth spacing resulting in a reduction in the perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality rates. Objective: To appraise the factors influencing inter-pregnancy interval (IPI) among pregnant women receiving antenatal care at Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done among antenatal attendee, with at least one previous delivery, in Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki over a six month period using a structured questionnaire. Data obtained was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 28.6 (95% CI 28.1-29.1) years. The majority (231, 70%) were multiparous. Most respondent (162, 49.1%) had their last delivery 6-12 months prior to conception. The significant determinants of IPI include: maternal age, marital status, place of residence, social class, baby's sex, family income, use of contraceptive, parity and outcome of her last confinement. Contraceptive knowledge is high (300, 90.9%); more than 50% had the desire to use some form of contraceptive but majority (132, 40%) said they will never use contraceptive after delivery. Conclusions: Majority of the women had an IPI of 6-12 months. The major determinant of this includes having a live birth in last delivery, parity, marital status, and place of residence. The attitude to contraception is poor; effort needs to be directed into identifying the immediate and remote causes of this as this will help in proper education and counselling needed to increase contraceptive uptake.

Prevalence of short interpregnancy interval and its associated factors among pregnant women in Debre Berhan town, Ethiopia

“…Women who had four and above children had 70% lower odds of experiencing short inter pregnancy interval compared to the counter groups. This finding is in line with the study done in Nigeria [ 13 ] and rural Bangladesh [ 16 ], but in contrast with the study done in Selangor [ 11 ]. These women may have achieved their desired family size and may feel less pressure or may be in a less hurry to get pregnant again.…”

“…This might be due to the intention to use the remaining fertility age efficiently before the woman reaches the stage of menopause. In line with the evidence from two studies done in Nigeria [ 7 , 13 ], the finding of this study revealed that women who did not use modern contraceptive before the current pregnancy had 2.5 times higher odds of experiencing short inter-pregnancy interval as compared to those who used it. This can be explained by the potential of modern contraceptive to prevent and extend pregnancy.…”

Prevalence of short interpregnancy interval and its associated factors among pregnant women in Debre Berhan town, Ethiopia

“…Women who had four and above children had 70% lower odds to experience short inter pregnancy interval compared to the counter groups. This finding is in line with the study done in Nigeria [13, 16] and rural Bangladesh[16], but in contrast with the study done in Selangor [11]. These women may have achieved their desired family size and may feel less pressure or may be in less hurry to get pregnant again.…”

“…This might be due to the intention to use the remaining fertility age efficiently before the woman reaches the stage of menopause. In line with the evidence from two studies done in Port Harcourt [13] and Nigeria [7], the finding of this study revealed that women who did not use modern contraceptive before the current pregnancy had 2.5 times higher odds to experience short inter-pregnancy interval as compared to those who used it. This might be due to a woman who used any type of the modern contraceptive has a probability of increasing the interval between the previous birth and the next pregnancy.…”

Is early childhood development impeded by the birth timing of the younger sibling?

“…These results provide some preliminary evidence to suggest that perhaps any potential benefits of sibling interactions associated with the resource augmentation hypothesis , or the pedagogic experience associated with the no-one-to-teach hypothesis may be lost due to the interval between siblings being too large to be beneficial. It should be noted that a wide range of biological factors [ 42 , 43 ], including sexual activity, fertility levels [ 44 ], the use of contraception, medical conditions, pregnancy complications and outcomes [ 45 ], and breastfeeding duration, can also govern the intervals between pregnancies. Thus, future studies with larger sample sizes for longer post-birth IPI categories are required to accurately assess the impact of long post-birth IPIs on child development outcomes.…”