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Outcome of Pregnancy and Labour in the Nullipara


Adewale O. Sule-Odu
Adetola O. Olatunji
Raheem A. Akindele

Abstract

Context: Nulliparous women are reportedly at a higher risk of developing complications of pregnancy and delivery than multipara. There is a need to document the outcome of their pregnancy in order to improve the quality of care they receive.


Objectives: To find out problems associated with pregnancy and labour in the nullipara compared to their multiparous counterparts.


Subjects and Methods: The delivery records of 528 nulliparous women and 2980 multipara delivering singleton babies at Ogun State University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu from January 1988 to December, 1990 were retrieved and data about the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were extracted for analysis.


Results: The mean age of the nullipara and the multipara were 21.2 (SD 3.5) years and 27.4 (SD 5.7) years respectively, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). The multiparae had a mean parity of 3.3 (SD 2.0). The nulliparae were significantly shorter (159.0cm; SD 6.1) than the multipara (160.7 cm; SD 1.3). The nullipara were more likely to have anaemia, preeclampsia, preterm births, prolonged second stage of labour, vacuum extraction and to give birth to lighter babies than the multipara (2.9 kg; SD 0.5) vs (3.1kg; SD 0.5). The multipara were at a higher risk of developing urinary tract infection in pregnancy, ante- and post- partum haemorrhage, fetal distress, retained placenta and perinatal mortality.


Conclusion: Both the nullipara and multipara are exposed to a variety of complications in pregnancy, which require prompt and adequate attention in order to forestall perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality.


Key Words: Pregnancy, Parturient, Parity, Outcome.


[Trop J Obstet Gynaecol, 2003, 20: 56-58]


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eISSN: 0189-5117