Author(s)

Henri Essome^1,2*, Merlin Boten Bounyom³, Astrid Ndolo Kondo^1,2, Ingrid Doriane Ofakem Ilick^1,2, Fulbert Mangala Nkwele¹, Irène Cyrielle Edjoa Mboe¹, Michel Roger Ekono¹, Alphonse Ngalame Nyong⁴, Robert Tchounzou⁴, Moustapha Bilkissou¹, Junie Ngaha Yaneu¹, Marga Vanina Ngono Akam⁵, Gervais Mounchikpou Ngouhouo¹, Grâce Tocki Toutou², Théophile Nana Njamen⁴, Valère Mve Koh⁵, Pascal Foumane⁶

¹Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon.
²Laquintinie Hospital, Douala, Cameroon.
³Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon.
⁴Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
⁵Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁶Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences of Sangmelima, University of Ebolowa, Ebolowa, Cameroon.

Introduction: Pregnancy as much as childbirth constitutes a risky situation, potentially fraught with sometimes dramatic complications: maternal death. Objective: We conducted this study with the aim of establishing the profile of those giving birth in our context with the aim to anticipate operationally in the future on morbidity but more on maternal deaths. Methodology: We conducted, using a structured questionnaire, a prospective descriptive study in representative maternity wards in the city of Douala; the study variables were socio-economic, anthropometric, obstetrical and clinical. Statistical analyses were carried out with CS Pro 7.3 and SPSS version 25.0 software. The Student, Chi-square and Fischer tests were used to compare the means of the variables and the percentages. Results: We recruited 305 births for our study. The average age of our births was 28.7 years ± 6.1 with an average height of 161.6 cm ± 5.06; an average body mass index at the start of pregnancy of 28.0 kilograms/square meter and 31.3 kilograms/square meter at delivery; the average weight gain was 8.4 g ± 5.37; an average gestation of 2.84±1.90; an average parity of 2.2 ± 2.1 with an average birth interval of 27.7 months ± 23.7. The average gestational age was 39.2 weeks ± 1.21 with pregnancy pathology dominated by malaria; 85.9% began their prenatal follow-up before the 14th week of amenorrhea. Conclusion: The profile of childbirth in urban Cameroon does not seem potentially dystocic compared to that of the same regional and racial area.

Profile, Delivery, Term, Malaria, Douala

Essome, H. , Bounyom, M. , Kondo, A. , Ilick, I. , Nkwele, F. , Mboe, I. , Ekono, M. , Nyong, A. , Tchounzou, R. , Bilkissou, M. , Yaneu, J. , Akam, M. , Ngouhouo, G. , Toutou, G. , Njamen, T. , Koh, V. and Foumane, P. (2024) Profile of Full-Term Births in Maternity Wards of Public Hospitals in Douala Cameroon. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 14, 705-720. doi: 10.4236/ojog.2024.145060.