ISSN 2736-1594
International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology ISSN 2736-1594, Vol. 14 (4), pp. 001-011, April, 2026. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Socio-Demographic Drivers of Obstetric Danger Sign Recognition Among Women in the Lagos Atlantic Coastal Region
Bamgboye M. Afolabi1*, Emmanuel N. U. Ezedinachi2, Sidney Opara2, Iwara Arikpo2 and Abiodun Ogunwale3
1Health, Environment and Development Foundation, 34 Montgomery Road, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
2Institute of Tropical Disease and Research, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
3Project Hope, Washington DC, USA.
Accepted 29 September, 2025
Implementation of safe motherhood programs in sub-Saharan African nations requires recognition of signs of potential emergency obstetric cases to facilitate immediate care seeking and urgent medical intervention. This questionnaire-based survey aimed to describe the perception of obstetric danger signs among women of reproductive age, living on the Atlantic coastline of rural Lagos. This cross-sectional, descriptive study took place in two non-congruent communities of Lagos State, Nigeria, between October 2012 and March 2013. Epi Info 7 was used to calculate sample size for the projected population in each community. Statistical analysis was carried out using STATA 13 software. A total of 829 females (20% single, 80% married) participated in the study. Among these, about 76 and 79% disagreed that bleeding and high blood pressure were obstetric danger signs, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed a positive and significant association between awareness of bleeding as obstetric danger sign as the dependent variable and both knowledge of antenatal care (t=6.53, p=0.000) and knowing a woman who died in pregnancy (t=3.34, p=0.001) as independent variables. Rural women on Atlantic Ocean coastline of Lagos had low perception of obstetric danger signs indicating promotion of acceptable maternal health in this environment.
Key words: Perception, danger signs, obstetrics, reproductive age, Atlantic Ocean coastline, rural.