WOMEN'S OPINIONS ABOUT FERTILITY,
INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY IN
NSUKKA, NIGERIA

MARIA ONYEUWALU AHUNANYA

 

 

 

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WOMEN'S OPINIONS ABOUT FERTILITY, INFANT
AND CHILD MORTALITY IN NSUKKA, NIGERIA

by

Maria Onyeuwalu Ahunanya

A PROBLEM STUDY

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER.OF SCIENCE

Institute of Extension Personnel Development
College of Agriculture

January 1965

 

 

 

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M.t',H"_'j£\'\_n 'x‘ F A ' F UKUVFHSITY

_ Lil-.1 LANNH‘QH M-V.”

395:" .-‘ I1— 1 “’qu

PREFACE

This study deals with the problems of fertility and
child mortality. It is hoped that the study will enable home-
makers to realize the implications of large families, the
importance of health and sanitation in homemaking and child
upbringing. Directly related to these are the implications
fertility and mortality rates have for other agencies of
improvanent. The data gathered for Home Economics purposes
would be disseminated and made available to other relevant
groups to help solve the problans of home makers.

This study was interdepartmental and develOped by the
Sociology and.Home Economics departments of the University of
Nigeria. It was a non-random study with a total of 96 sub-
jects. The questionnaire was comprehensive and contained
Open-ended and direct questions.. Coding was not done by the
researcher. Analysis of the data was done in simple pr0por-
tion and percentages.

The result and recommendations are embodied in the

entire.report.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to eXpress appreciation to the

following people with whose help this study has been possible.

To Dr. Mozel Hill and Dr. M. Kirkland for their guid-
ance, and help in formulation of the interview schedule. To
Mr. Edward Taylor Who coded the data. To Dr. Mason Miller,
my academic advisor for his guidance and inSpiration in writ-
ing of the research. To the three other members of my
academic committee Mrs. M.J. Kelley, Dr. B. Paolucci and Dr. G.
Axinn for suggestions and encouragement given to the author in
writing up the research.

To the 96 homemakers who gave their time and shared
their homes with her. To those local school teachers who
accompanied the researcher to the various homes.

And most of all to my friends Who have given me
encouragement and help, eSpecially Mrs. N.W. Axinn who did
not only help in typing out the rough copy for me but did
most of the editing. Finally to Joseph Atekwanna and Arikpo
Ettah for the moral support and assistance in tranSportation

to buy supplies, and to the typists under thick and thin.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PART I. Introduction ................................... 1
Purpose of Study ............................... .5

Sc0pe of Present Study ......................... 7

PART II. Inventory of Related Research .................. 9
Conclusion ..................................... 32

PART III. Procedure .................................... 34
Introduction ................................... 35
Deve10pment of Interview Schedule .............. 36

Refining the Interview Schedule ................ 36

Testing the Instrument ......................... 37

Sampling ....................................... 37

Data Collection ................................ 38

PART IV. Analysis of Data ............................... 43
Section I: Description of ReSpondents ......... 43 V

Mobility Patterns .............................. 44«*

Religion .........................o............. 44

Language and Education ......................... 45 1'

Section II: Subjects' Opinions on Best
Number of Children ........................... 46

Summary .......o................................ 51
Section III: Fertility and Mortality .......... 52
Mortality ...................................... 59
Pregnancy History ......................o....... 60

Summary 0°.0.0.000.CO0.0.0.000.00000000000000000

iv

 

 

Page

PART'V. Discussion, Implications and ,
ConC1usion8 OOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOO0.00.00.00.00. 65 L/

Implications for Extension Program ............ 70 p/
Implicationa for Further Research ............. 71 ”

Summary OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.COOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOO... 73v

ConCJ-uSion OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOO0.00.00.00.00 75”

TABLE
1.

10.
11.
12.
13.

14.

15.

LIST OF TABLES

Vital Statistics for Lagos, Nigeria

1956 OOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOOOQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOO

Infant and Maternal Mortality and Stillbirth
Rates in Lagos, Nigeria 1937-46 .............

Infant and.Maternal Mortality, Stillbirth
in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and
Gambia. from 1937-1946 econooeooooosooooeooooe

Infant andeaternal Mortality England
and Wale. 1930‘1937 0.0.0.000...0.00.00.00.00

Infant Mortality in Selected Other Countries
Of British Common Wealth 0.000000000000000...

Estimated Average Crude Birth, Death and
Natural Increase Rates for the World
by Regions 1956-1960 ooooooooooOoosoooooooooo
Infant Mortality in Regions of the World ......

Average Fertility by Women's Present Ages
at the Time Of study OOOOOOOOIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Failed Pregnancies (Miscarriages and
Stillbirths Combined) by Women's Present

Ages OOOOOOCOOOOOOCOOOO0.000QOOOCOOOOOOOOOOOO

Estimated Age Range of Respondents ............
Respondents According to Religions ............
Preferred Number of Children ..................
Reasons for Choosing Number of Children .......

Opinions on Best Marriage Times and Times
of Having First and Last Children ...........

Opinions on Intervals Between Births ..........

Page

10

7

14

15

16

26

29

30

30

43

44

46

47

49

50

TABLE
16.
17.
18.

19.
20.
21.

22.
23.
24.
25.

Page
HOUBQhOld size OOOOOOOOOOOO..OOOOOOOOOOOCOOOO. 53
Number of People in Household ................ 53

Number of Children Living the Same
Househ01d OOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0.0.0.0...000...... 55

NWber Of Children Under 5 Years 000000000000. 56
Number of Children 5 to 14 Years ............. 56

Total Number of Children Born to
Resmndents 0.00000000000000000Q0.0000...... 57

Children's Deaths ............................ 59
Pregnancy Histories of Reapondents ........... 60
Age of First and Last Pregnancies ............ 63

Opinions and Actual Time Between
pregnanC1-es OO...I...0.0000000...0.000.000.0w64

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE Page

I. Changes in Stillbirth and Infant Mortality
Lagos, Nigeria 1937'46 0.0000000000000000... 12

II. Mortality Rate by Year (1-5 Years)
Two Areas of Africa versus Metropolitan

France O00.0.0.0...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

22

III. organization sCheme 00000000000000.00000000000

viii

LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
I. Interview Sdhedule ............................ 77
II. An incident during the interview .............. 86
III(a). Mother caring for a sick baby ................ 88
III(b). A Mether handling water problem .............. 88
III(c). A mother feeding a baby 89

Iv. General Observations 0.00000.00.000.000.000...0 91

ix

II.
III.

IV.

VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.

XI.

XII.

LIST OF PLATES

Page
Deep well in a village center ................. 96
Village tap near a market ..................... 97
Getting water from a spring hole .............. 98
Carrying water uphill ......................... 99
A shaded water storage place ................. 100
Grinding stone on a raised mud platform ...... 101
Food handling in a market .................... 102
Market scene ................................. 103
A mother and baby in a room .................. 104
Children outside mud hut ..................... 105

Adults and children in front of large
family house 0.0000000000000000...0000000000 106

Children in a compound ....................... 107

PART I
INTRODUCTION

It may seem peculiar for a home economist to undertake a study
of such topics like fertility and mortality. However, there is a
relationship between the two and many other factors of direct con-
cern to the home economist. Many United.Nations Reports have shown
that Where infant and child.mortality rates are high, the general
living conditions for the people are low. .The researcher, in working
with the women in the Nigersity communities, received reports from
“any “*1“? ”the" ”11° Stated thet- their, use“ inf-"est in attending
these classes was to learn how to keep their children healthy. These
woman told pathetic stories of the many children they had lost.
Others enumerated financial hardships and other inconveniences caused
by the ill-health of their Children. ,Infant and child mortality in
this deveIOping area of Nigeria is a very real experience of many
women and can serve as an incentive for general education of the
adults. For example, a woman who is prepared to do anything to save
her Child's life will be willing to learn new methods of feeding,
dressing and housing the Child, if she understands that the survival
of the child depends on these factors.

Information on fertility is crucial to a home economist as it
is helpful in approadhing the economic problems of the family.__§9r
pragticalmpurposes, it is easier for a family to better care for a

small number of children than a large number. If the Nigerian

families realize the implications of having many children, they will
be better able to adhere to the teadhings of family planning, both
' 1

2

for the sake of_the mother's health and the economic conditions of

the family. 1

Also, a woman who is the economic backbone of her family is

 

 

less productive economically when she is pregnant or lactating.

Therefore, frequent pregnancy will not only worsen the economic con-

__r _... he.
~._—-——a—

 

ditions ofher_§amily but also endanger the life of the woman and the

children she already has.

_- —
__ .-
.——._..____ _—.—

Home Economics considers the home as the "incubator of human
personality, the generator of human values, and the progenitor of
community attitudes.”1 Home Economics recognizes the family as the
primary biological.and social unit in any culture, and the one Which
greatly influences and in part determines the social, physical and
moral deveIOpment of the individual. The survival of any family
depends on such basic needs as adequate and satisfying food, clothing,
housing and human relationships. These all have economic and social
implications and therefore are the concern of home economists all
over the world.2 Home Economics, as a field of study, has the task
of creating a better understanding in the family and promoting the
health and well-being of the individuals in the family, by using the
existing resources to raise levels of living.

From the preceding definition of home economics education, it
becomes clear that fertility and mortality studies have some implica-

tions for the home economics extension worker. She is concerned with

lCarmichael, Olive C. pniversities: Commonwealth and America.
New York. Harper and Brothers, 1959, p. 157.

2Baldwin, Alfred L. (ed.) Report of Institute on International
Education in Home Economics, Cornell University. 1958 Tmimeo.) p. 1.

3
the families' health, social and economic levels of living and the
management of available resources to meet the basic physical needs of
food, housing and clothing of the individuals in the family.

Studying fertility and mortality for the direct implications
these have on the extension worker's job are not the only objectives
of this study. In many cases, the extension worker mediates between
the people and the various institutions or organizations which are
concerned with the solutions for community problems. These data
gathered for home economic purposes can be disseminated to and made
available to other relevant groups to help them in their decision-
making.

From the middle to late fifties of this century, the University
of Nigeria was only a dream of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, then the Premier of
the Eastern Region of Nigeria. In 1958, Dr. Azikiwe's government
recommended the development of the University of Nigeria, dedicated
to the concept of service to the problems and needs of Nigeria.1
This university became a reality in October 7th, 1960. According to
Sir Eric Ashby, most universities in West Africa are importations of
the British and French, whose traditions dominate them, with minor
modifications.2 But this is not so with the University of Nigeria
which is the first of its kind in the nation "committed to play a

dynamic and vital role in the significant task which faces the

11963-64 Calendar, The University of Nigeria, Vol. 1, No. 3,

p. 9.

281r Eric Ashby. "Wind of Change in African Higher Education, "
Freetown, Sierra Leone, Dec. 1961, (Address, mimeo), p. 2.

4

country of which it is a part - that of building a great new nation.”1

The University's philoSOphy is summed up in the passage below:

“The community of scholars-~teadhers, students
and researdhers—-Who have gathered themselves on the
plains of Nsukka have launched a venture in higher ‘
education that is somewhat different for this part of
the world. They are attempting to sift out the most
appropriate aspects of traditional universities, and.
by blending them into the Nigerian scene, to evolve a
program specifically suited to the needs and interests
of the peeple of Nigeria, as they take their rightful
place in the world community of nations.

The objectives of the University of Nigeria have.
their roots in a spirit and philosophy as old as man‘s
search for his own fulfillment and the ancient
universities of Bologna and Paris, and as new as
Nigerian Independence and The Land-Grant Universities
of America. p

The spirit stems from such expressions as that of
one of the University's founders, Dr. Nnamdi Azikewe,
when he wrote, nearly a quarter of a century ago,
'Universities have been reaponsible for shaping the
destinies of race and nations and individuals. They
are mirrors whidh reflect their particular societal
idiosyncrasies....' He suggested that if Africa has
its own university, there is no reason Why the best
libraries, laboratories, professors cannot be produced
right here, and this continent become, overnight, 'a
continent of Light'.4

Nsukka was a small township until October 1960, when the
University started there. The University has brought fast socio-
economic, political and technical changes to the University site.

As thousands of students and.employees from various parts of
Nigeria and the world arrive on the Nsukka campus each year, the in-

digenous pOpulation surrounding the University is being catapulted

 

1The PrOSpectus Committee, 1963-64 Calendar, The University
of Nigeria, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 13, 14.

21bid., p. 14.

5

into the “boom town" of Nigersity.*

Purpgse of Study
This study is part of the Nigersity study...a multipurpose

study of the Nsukka area, in sociology, agriculture, home economics
and other related fields. A part of the Nigersity study which dealt
with homemaking activities in the Nsukka area was completed last year
by Nancy Axinn (M.A. thesis M.S.U. 1963). Axinn's study contains
information on patterns of activities of homemakers in the Nsukka area,
resources available to the homemakers, and aspirations of homemakers
for their children's education.

The researdher had the Opportunity of working as an extension
agent in twelve villages in the Nsukka area. The homemakers Who
attended the extension classes indicated that their major reason for
coming to the classes was to learn how to care for their babies,
eSpecially during the weaning period when many of the babies die. The
daily complaints and the anxiety shown on the faces of these women
When eXpecting or nursing babies aroused my sympathy and my interest
in exploring the circumstances surrounding their childabearing and
rearing practices.

It is hoped that this study will provide a base for a later
historicaIrecord of how these peOple shall have made their transition
from rural to urban life. This study is designed to furnish more in~

formation on homemakers' childmbearing and rearing practices, and

x-'

M

 

*“Nigersity” is the name given to the areas around the
University of Nigeria covered by this study.

6

their Opinions toward pregnancy and children. The study also sought
information concerning fertility among the women and mortality among
their‘éhildren.

i The main objectives in this segment of the Nigersity study
were:
1. To gather data about the Nigersity communities' infant death
rate. Many agencies—~United Nations, World Health Organization, and
others--have reported high infant and child mortality rates in many
African countries, eSpecially the SubeSaharan tropical Africa. This
varies from country to country. Even in the same country, the rates
are different from area to area. T.H. Davey in one of his lecture
series "Disease and Population Pressure in the Tropics“ in the Univer=
sity College Ibadan in 1958, gave the following figures:

/

, “The result of an investigation into the histories
zof children born to one hundred and fifty=four mothers
’ in a Nigerian village corroborates thisa the mortality
rate for infants under one year of age was 210 per
thousand as compared with 8 per thousand in England and
Wales, while the total mortality in the five years of
\1ife reached a level of 473 per thousand as compared

with 25.2 in England and Wales.“1
This high death rate, nearly fifty percent of children under five
years of age, is perturbing and further stimulated my interest to know
what the rate in the Nigersity communities is. Knowledge of this kind
should be useful to the University in planning its extension educan

tion programs in the communities. Also, it can serve as a stimulating

factor for further research into the causes and remedy for such

 

1Davey, T.H. ”Disease and Population Pressure in the TrOpics“
Ibadan University Press, 1958, p. 4.

7
situations by such departments as the College of Medicine, and

government or voluntary agencies working for the people's health.

2. TO explore the peOple's traditional childmbearing and rearing
practices.‘ This information will be very usefulinplanningHome
Economics Education in general and more especially, the extension
education which the University has already started fer the Nigersity
communities. -The basis for this objective is already cited in the
University's philOSOphy, which attempts to sift out the most
apprOpriate aspects of traditional universities and to blend them in
the Nigerian scene. It is through information from a study of this
kind that a program Specifically suited to the needs and interests

of the peOple Of Nigeria can evolve.

Sggpe of the Present Study

The study focused its attention mainly on the following:
(a) Fertility among the women.
(b) Mortality among the children.
(c) WOmen's Opinions about child-bearing and childmrearing.

(d) Women's practices in childmbearing and rearing.

Limitations to the Total Research Progggm

Most social research of this nature is never neatly linear in
process. Rather, it follows the razzlendazzle of social events like
those of mountain trails Which Spiral downward at times in order to
advance later. This analogy applies to this study as it followed the
course of events in Nsukka communities during the second year Of the
University's existence in the area. Some of the important limitations

Which many of the Nigersity study researchers had to face were:

8
The overriding objective that the initial phase of the

project should have practical and immediate relevance.

It is rather difficult to collect data in one culture
and report it in another.

The lack of detailed and accurate maps from which one
could construct base maps for basic guides.

The scattered and inaccurate nature of demographic and
census type data for examining and projecting social
trends in the Nsukka district.

The unevenness and lack Of comparability of most available
data, especially the “one-shot" studies by individuals
and agencies.

The absence of descriptive ethnographic studies of the
Nsukka area.

The fact that the majority Of the study pOpulation was
illiterate and was highly suSpicious of the interviewer,
made it difficult for the researcher to get adequate
OOOperation of the people.

The limited experience of the interviewers at the time of

the interviewing.

PART II

INVENTORY OF RELATED RESEARCH

Five major sources of information were used for review:

1. Onabamiro, S.D. Why 0g;_§hildren Die. Methuen and Co. Ltd.,

 

London 1949.

2. Children in the British Cglonies by the National Committee for
the Defense of Children, Deaner's Printer Ltd., London 1952.

3. United Nations ggd World Health Organization Annual_Repg£§_--
1954-56 and 1956-60. New York.

4. Ardener, E. Divorce and FertilitygiAn Afgican Study. Oxford
University Press 1962.

5. Oyenuga, V.A. Our Needs agg_Resou;ces_in Food and Agriculture.

Federal Nigerian Ministry of Information, 1959, Lagos, Nigeria.

1. Onabamiro, 8.2. “Why Our Children Die"

Onabamiro's book--Why Our Children Die, first published in
1949, stirred the minds of Africans or others, concerning the appall-
ing conditions under which pregnant and nursing mothers and their
children live in West Africa. The fact that the majority of mothers
in West Africa neither have their babies in the hospital nor take
their Children to the hOSpital when they are ill makes it difficult
to Obtain reliable statistical figures. Dr. Onabamiro got most of
his from the hOSpitals of major cities in West Africa. It should be
borne in mind that such figures are good enough for the insights

9

10

they have given to our problems but should not be regarded as
representative samples of what the conditions are in West Africa.

Here are the vital statistics for Lagos - Nigeria in 1946.

 

 

 

Table I} Vital Statistics for Lagos--Nigeria 1946

Estimated Population 176,500
Births (live) 8,060
Deaths within first year Of life 884
Infant mortality (per 1,000), 109.7
Still-births 285
Rate of Still-births (per 1,000 births) 35
Deaths from Diseases of Pregnancy and

childbirths 93
Maternal Mortality (per 1,000 live births) 11.53

 

The above figures reveal the high mortality of infants. In
1946, 109.7 children out of every 1,000 births died in their infancy

inftagos, and 11.53 mothers died per 1,000 live births recorded.
Compare this latter figure with Britain where the rate is less than 1
'per1,ooo live births.

:1“) Of greater interest still is the next table (Table 2) which

gives us infant and maternal mortality, and stillebirth rates for a

decadea-1937 to 1946.

 

1Onabamiro, 3.9. Why Our Children Die: Methuen & Co. Ltd.,
London, 1949, p. 2.

ll

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2.1 Infant, Maternal Mortality and Still-birth Rate in Lagos,
Nigeria '
Infant Still-birth Maternal
Mortality Rate per Mortality

Years Rate per 1,000 1,000 Rate per 1,000
1937 135.0 135 11.6
1938 127.0 157 7.9
1939 127.0 167 8.4
1940 132.2 . 154 8.4
1941 113.9 164 8.5
1942 123.8 . 194 12.5
1943 . 140.3 236 9.8
1944 116.0 252 10.5
1945 128.0 259 9.8

1946 109.7 285 11.53

 

In the above table it is interesting to note the increasing
and decreasing order of columns one and two, i.e. infant mortality
and number Of still-births. It could be inferred from the above
table that as infant mortality decreases, still-births increase. This
is shown graphically in Figure I.

While over the 10-year period still-birth shows a steady in—
crease to more than double,.the infant mortality, though fluctuating,
decreased considerably. The author, however, emphasizes in his
analysis of the data that the figures are Of limited applicability

since they do not represent every part of the country.

 

lIbid.

12

Figure I. Changes in Still-births and Infant Mortality Lagos,
Nigeria 1937-46.
W

300
280
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100

80

60

Infant and still-birth rates per 1,000 births

20

Key

I“

L—

p.

r
L

 

 

L _1'_ _L_ l_ I L l L g | I
1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946

Time

Still-birth
Infant mortality

“Out of the estimated number of 90,000-Odd children born in

Nigeria in 1946, only 20,000 were born in hospitals or maternity

centres or under the care of qualified midwives. That number includes

children born in Mission medical institutions.... Thus over 70,000

confinements or 7/9ths of the total confinements for the whole country

inthe year 1946 were conducted by the native medicine men.

«1

 

1

Ibid., pp. 4 and 5.

13
The author is of the Opinion that the high infant and
maternal mortality in Nigeria is due to the fact that most pregnancies
and children's illnesses are handled by native medicine men and women.
He further stated that a report by the Methodist Mission in 1942
seems to give a nearly true picture of infant mortality in Nigeria.

”In 1942 the Methodist Mission, Western Nigeria
District, published a report in commemoration Of the
centenary Of the landing Of the early missionaries in
Badagry, Southern Nigeria. In this report it was
stated that the death rate Of infants during the first
year Of life in the up-country, i.e. outside Lagos and
colony area, was estimated to be 42 percent. Now that
figure was given to represent the state of things in
such places as Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ago Iwoye, Ibadan,
Ilesha, Oyo, Ilorin, etc. It is clear then, if such
was the case in these towns, that the percentage death
rate of infants in remote and secluded bush villages
would be much higher still. The trouble, as has been
stated before, is that it is not possible to Obtain direct
figures from these areas because Of the ignorance and
superstition Of the illiterate peOple and their reluct-
ance to OOOperate in 'the counting Of Heads' dead or
alive. There are no grounds for accusing the Methodist
Mission's report Of exaggeration: there are, in fact
many reasons leading to the belief that the figures
given represented a conservative estimate at the time.

Again, there are no reasons to believe that a
radical change has taken place in Nigeria, concerning
this problem, in the last five years: we shall there-
fore in this book take 42 percent.as the estimated rate
of Infant Mortality in Nigeria.“1

Assuming as Onabamiro did, that 42 percent was the infant
mortality rate in Nigeria in 1942 or 1946, let us compare this figure
with the vital statistics from other countries in West Africa during
the same period. Like Nigeria, the figures given in Table 3 are from
the hospital records Of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, the then
Gold Coast government, and Freetown, the capital Of Sierra.Leone and

Bathurst the capital of Gambia.

 

1Ibid., pp. 5 and 6.

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one 0:004 muuoam .mcmno .maummaz ca

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rusaosaaum.susasosoz assumes: cos sconcH

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15
A glance at Table 3 shows that the rates of infant mortality,
still-birth and maternal mortality are no better in any of these
three West African countries than in Nigeria. The infant mortality
rate in West Africa was about three times as high as it was in
Britain in the thirties. The table below shows the rate in England

and Wales combined between 1930 and 1937.

Table 4. Infant and.Materna1 Mortality in England and Wales in 1930

 

 

 

 

 

and 19 37.
Infant Mortality Maternal Mortality
*Year per 1,000 per 1,000
1930 60 4.4
1931 66 4.1
1932 65 4.2
1933 64 4.5
1934 59 4.6
1935 57 4.1
1936 58 3.2

 

Table 5 shows infant mortality in a few other countries of

the British Commonwealth.

Onabamiro blamed this high infant and maternal mortality to a
number of things-~food, housing, insects' bites, trOpical diseases,
polygamy, techniques of native midwives, practices of rearing babies
and a host of other things connected with living conditions in

Africa.1 The author also commented on the techniques of the native

M96 I pa

16

Table 5. Infant Mortality in selected countries of the British

 

 

 

 

 

Commonwealth1
Country ‘ Infant Mortalities
per 1,000 births
Canada-~Province of Alberta 63.0
Province of British Columbia 56.0
Province Of Manitoba 64.0
Australia--New South Wales 40.68
Queensland 35.64
South Australia 33.05
Island of St. Helena 45.45
Virgin Island 3.6

In 1937, the vital statistics for great Britain were:

"Live Births 410,717
Still-births 12,418,that is 3.02 percent.
Deaths, excluding still-births

up to one year 18,621,that is 45.34 per

1,000 births

(These figures are taken from page 770 of the Registrar-General's
Weekly Return of Births and Deaths, 1947, NO. 49).

 

“A comparison of the figures for West Africa and those Of
EurOpean and other countries given above will bring it home to us in
West Africa how serious this problem is amongst us. Elaborate
comments are unnecessary: the figures are self-explanatory. The
official reports of the Government Health and Medical Services in
West Africa and the reports of Research Workers and other Observers
all agree on one thing that these Infant and Maternal Mortality rates
are abnormally high."2

 

lIbid. , p. 16.

2Ibid., pp. 17 and 18.

17
medicine man and the practices of baby-rearing. It has been mentioned
earlier that the majority Of Nigerian women when pregnant are
attended by a native doctor. An average Nigerian, even one with some
education, prefers his wife to be looked after by his parents during
confinement. And, generally, most parents prefer the native medicine
mangto the modern doctors. Instances are known in such civilized

cities as Lagos, Accra, Freetown and Bathurst where teachers, clerks

and technicians habitually sent their wives up-country to their

parents to be cared for ”in the native way" when they are pregnant.1

\u,

Onabamiro has given a vivid account Of the technique Of native mid-
wifery with its advantages and disadvantages.

Onabamiro claims that he has been an eye witness at about
three Occasions where native midwives worked with laboring women.
Conditions are quite uniform in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and
Gambia, according to Onabamiro, and represent the experience of an
average woman during pregnancy, confinement and labor in the hands of
a native midwife. The same description applies to Other rural women--
like those covered in this Nsukka study who have had very little con-
tact with western experience in this matter.

Onabamiro says that during the first 13 weeks Of pregnancy, a
fish or snail medicine diSh is made. The woman eats it the last thing
at night or the first thing in the morning. The same is repeated at

33 weeks. During such pregnant periods, the women usually live away

1Ibid., p. 21.

g 18

.'from their husband and work.in petty trading and some farming.~ If
it is a polygamous home, the husband lives with other wives.. After
birth, sexual relations aren't resumed until about after 28 years.
..Onabamiro points out that the women' 8 working while pregnant keeps
I their muscles in tone and generally in good condition to undergo
rigOrs of birth contractions. He mentioned that in some instances,
maternal mOrtality among idle "civilized" Women has been reported
- higher than among these "primitive" women.

_ Onabamiro reports a typical case Of a Yoruba wOman at labour
period. At such period, the house is cleared of dirt and younger
peOple sent out. The woman is sent into an inner room for privacy.
Such rooms are Often short Of oxygen. There is an atmosPhere Of com—
plete reliance on the dread Of'Nature: The native midwife then gives
the rationale behind his practice by the following quotation:

“A ki igbebi ewure,
A ki igbebi agutam,
Bi ewuer ba loyun, a bi were,

Bi agutan ba loyun a bi were:

Iwo-—-, oyun ti O yun yi, were ni kO bi:----"

This in English rendering, reads as follows:

“Sheep have no midwives,

Goats have no midwives,

When a sheep is pregnant she is safely delivered,

When a goat is pregnant she is safely delivered:

You---, in this state Of your pregnancy will be safely

delivered:----“*

Everyone, including the patient, would reply to the incantation with
“So be it“. Onabamiro calls this part of the description the "phase
of Spiritual concentration.“

After this, the woman is bathed and is then allowed to wait
for the rupture Of the membrane--a period which could stretch to
hours. During this waiting, the peOple in this room tell stories of

interesting topics and ridicule women who are considered cowards at

pregnancy. Both the patient and occupants Of the room would laugh at

_ 19 V
these stories. This is psychologically calculated to divert her
attention from the pains of labor. This period could last anywhere
from 12 to 24 hours.

When the membrane ruptures and the child comes out, the song is
repeated and the reply of “so be it" is echoed. Tradition has it that
the child would not be severed from the umbilical cord until the
afterbirth comes out. This Observance Of nonainterference with the
“COurse of Nature“ may keep the baby in a sudden change of environment
for anything up to 4 hours. The author maintains that pneumonia and
bronchitis,Which take the lives of some children at birth, result
from this lOng eXposure of the baby to the sudden change from body
_temperature to.outside temperature at birth. This is most acute since
many children are born in a weakened state and thus require immediate
attention if they are to survive.

‘ "~ As the child comes, the atmOSphere lightens. An old woman
usually takes the child, says some rituals to welcome it into the
world, cuts the umbilical cord, and throws the child about 2 feet up
and catches it several times to acquaint it with the sensation of fa11~
ing. Some medicine is given to the child. If it can't take it, the
nostrils may be closed and in course of taking in breath through the
mouth, it will take the liquid medicine.

The medicine man or native midwife will return to his home and
the news will go far and wide about the new birth. Hot fomentations
are applied to the mother to accelerate uterine contraction.

Onabamiro lists some of the advantages of native midwifery:

(a) The astonishing psychological effect of the medicine man's
incantation.
‘(b) Continuous physical labor during pregnancy help keep the baby small

for delivery.

20
(c) Presence of friends at labor cheers the patient and puts her into
a good psychological state.
(d) Constant pain incurred during work during pregnancy makes labor
pain less.
(e) Minimum interference with the general "natural birth” system at

labor prevents puerperal sepsis.

Disadvantages:

(a) Danger of complicated pregnanciesn-face and brows presentation,
interlocking twins, obligelie presentation etc. which nona
interference can hardly solve.

(b) Extra-uterine pregnancy which a western medical doctor can work at.

(c) Large headed foetuses presenting problems.

(d) Danger of lack of fresh air in the congested inner rooms of labor.

(e) Infection to umbilical cord during labor.

(f) Long eXposures Of babies in changed tanperature environment with»
out immediate attention.

(g) Danger of disease from many visitors handling the baby.1

Although highly abridged, the above is a summary Of what
Onabamiro has to say on the native midwives of some West African
countries.

The National Committee for the Defense of Children, after
their meeting in Geneva in 1952, published a little pamphlet,
"Children of the British Colonies." This booklet discussed at length
the problems of children in the then British colonies, Of Which

Nigeria was one. The report on Nigeria stated:

 

lIbid., pp. 23 to 42.

21

"The most terrible thing about the children of
Nigeria can be put in a twelvemword sentence:

They are fortunate if they live beyond the age
Of five years.

Consider the following facts about children of
the Nigeria Province:

21 in every 100 children die in their first year.

32 in every 100 are dead at the end of the second
year

40 in every 100 are dead at the end of their
third year.

51 in every 100 have finished their lives at
the end of the fifth.

These are figures for only one province, but they reflect
the state of affairs in others.“ 1

Figure II shows the difference between mortality rates in

France and two African countries.2

The committee during their meeting, probed into the "whys“
of such high infant and child mortality in Nigeria. To do this,
the Committee examined the Nigerians' ways of life before they had
contact with the Europeans. The following is a comparison of the

Nigeria of the past and the present.

"Consider, for instance, this description of a
Nigerian town in 1688 before the slave trade
really got under way. It refers to the city of
Great Benin, as it was called by the Dutch:

This town, including the Queen's Court, is
about five or six miles in circumference.... The
town has 30 quite straight streets. Each is about
120 feet broad, and into these come many broad, but
somewhat smaller, cross streets. The houses stand
along the streets in good order, close by one an=
other, as in EurOpe, decorated with gables and
steps and covered with palm or banana leaves. They
are not high, but generally big, with long halls;

 

1National Committee for the Defense of Children, “Ni eria“
Children of the British Colonies, Deaner Printers Ltd. (T.U. London,
(Undated) p. 4.

2Sicault Georges "The Needs of Children,“ U.N. Publication,
The Free Press of Glencoe, New York 1963, p. 31.

22

Figure II. Mortality Rate by Year (1-5 years). Two Areas of
Africa versus MetrOpolitan France

T
1

 

 

4
L—

200 {-

180 ,.

, 72 '
:10 r- 1 Senegal Valley 1957 ——.._....
(rural)

Guinea 1955 (rural) fl'rw'au' yer-1......

160 v—
150 ’- France 1957
140 --
130 +—

120 >-

100*-
90%—
30—
70"-
60'-
50*-
40*-
30...
20>-

 

10*-

 

«g. 3.6 1.4 0.9

0 L , ’lpoooooooo00.30000000-oocoolooeoo........ 0.7

A

Years 0-1 1-‘2 2-3 3-4 4-5

Scum-r End: in Denis: J: l'uy'm a Ship! (Needs of Children Country Report
VolflNhyHM,p$m.

31

23

inside, eSpecially the houses of the nobleSg also with
many rooms whose walls ,made with red earth, they wash
and scrub in such wise and so smooth that they shine
like a mirror° The upper stories are also made of the
same clay.

In each house to be found a fresh water well:
Indeed, they are beautifully built....”

Compare that with a 1947 description of Lagos, Nigeria's
second largest town, in a report of the Medical Officer of Health:

"Of the 9,673 dwellings in Lagos Island a total
of 5,765, or approximately 60 percent. are either un-
fit for human habitation or are constructed of pro-
hibited materials, i.e., bamboo or galvanized iron.

In the poorer parts of the town narrow and
torturous alleys wind through a labyrinth of crazy
shacks with dark, cavernous rooms, each one of which
may house several families: every inch of space is
utilized and in some places noisesome corridors are
partitioned into living rooms by the simple expedient
of hanging grass mats at intervals from the roof."2

Also, considered by the council was the Nigerian's standard of living.

”For one reason consider the parents, their lives and
surroundings.

To bring up a healthy family you must have at least a
living wage. Poor wages mean poor food, poor food
means poor children.

The 1950-51 report of the Government Labour
Department in Nigeria has some interesting details
about wages. It shows that 64,446 labourers from
various industries earned an average ofi;2.8s.10d a
month, or 18.108d a day. What of the skilled men?
Well 24,287 skilled workers and craftsmen earned
£6.4s.7d a month, or 43.9%d a day.”3

A pound is $2.80 American money.
Poor nutrition is the next important problem of the Nigerian
children.

1National Committee for the Defense of Children, gpg cit., p.5.

21mm. p. 5.

3Ibid., p. 6.

24
"The babies are at a nutritional disadvantage from birth on-
wards, remarked a medical officer in Nigeria. Or in less professional
terms, Nigerian children do not get enough to eat from the day they

are born--and they are born weak because their mothers were half

starved before they were born."1

Along with poor feeding goes poor housing...“insanitary

alleys, the hovels unfit for habitation and terrible overcrowding of

the towns. In the rural areas the African baby finds itself in an illm

ventilated smoky mudbrick or wattle hut.“2

_ Another topic discussed by the National Committee was the
health conditions of a child. The deadly diseases of malaria, tubercun
losis, diarrhea, etc. are frequent and fatal enemies of the Nigerian

children. In addition there are the horrors of skin diseases and the

biting and burrowing insects of the tropics.3
"...from the time it is born it will be bitten daily
innumerable times by the mosquitoes in the hut...when
it is laid on the floor to crawl the minute larvae of
the tumbufly will enter its skin at any time, and at
night the Congo floor maggot and ticks will puncture
its skin to live on its blood.

When it is a little older and can walk about inw
side the house, jiggers will burrow under its toen
nails: outside the hut its feet will be penetrated by
the larvae of the hookworm and other worms living in
the contaminated soil.

When its mother takes it to the stream to wash
it, the larvae of the bilharzia worms will go through
its skin while it is in the water. As it sits beside
the washing place before or after bathing it will be
bitten by tsetse flies or horseflies and vicious black
gnats and here, as before, the hookworm and other
larvae will enter its skin.“4

Ibid., p. 7

Ibid., p. 9,

Ibid., pp.9,and 10.

25
The Nigerian children with all these terrible conditions have
very limited health service. “Thereport for 1950 on Nigerian medical
services says the Government medical service then had 233 doctors and
there were another 180 mission and private doctors. Nurses numbered
1,553. This means roughly one doctor to 77,400 pe0ple and one nurse

to 19,300."1

There are many rural areas in Nigeria today where
modern trained doctors have never been heard of.

The next set of literature reviewed for this study was the
United Nations and World Health Organizations' publications on the
issues related to mortality among children. These reports, though
scanty and mostly approximations, give some indication of what happens
to the children in the underdevelOped areas of the world. Mortality

rates in the underdeveloped countries are generally high. The table

below shows estimated average crude births, death, and natural in-

crease rates for the world by regions, 1956wl960.2 From Table 6 one

can see that the death rate in trOpical Africa is higher than in any
other world region.

Other vital statistics for some selected countries in different
areas of the world is shown in Table 7. Note on this table how the
infant mortality rose along with the births in each year in Nigeria,
in Mexico, and Bombay, while this fluctuated for the other countries.

The recent United Nation's publication, The Needs of Children3
edited by Georges Sicault, discussed some problems of children of less

develOped areas of the world:

Ibid., p. 11.

21963 Report on the World Social Situation, U.N. (E/CN. 5/375
Rev. 1 ST/SOA/SZ) U.N. publications, 1963, p. 10.

3Sicault, G. The Needs of Children, The Free Press of Glencoe,
New York, Macmillan, New York: London 1963.

26

Table 6. Estimated Average Crude Birth, Death and Natural Increase
Rates *For the World, by Regions, 1956-1960

 

 

 

Birth Death Rate of
rate rate natural
increase
World 36 18 18
Africa 47 25 22
Northern Africa 45 23 22
TrOpical and Southern Africa 43 27 21
America 34 13 21
Northern America 25 9 16
Middle America 42 15 27
South America 42 19 23
Asia 41 22 19
South-West Asia 48 22 26
South-Central Asia 41 24 17
South-East Asia 41 21 20
East Asia 40 20 20
Europe 19 11 8
Northern and Western EurOpe 18 ll 7
Central EurOpe 19 11 8
Southern Europe 21 10 11
Oceania 24 9 15
Union of Soviet Socialist Republic 25 8 17

Source: 1961 Demographic Yearbook, United Nations publication,
Sales No. 62, XIII, table 2.

*Births, deaths or natural increase per year per 1,000 pOpulation.

27

.Neonatal (0-1 month). The governments of the deve10p-
ing countries stress the problems of high neonatal mortality,
which may reach 30 per thousand live births. The fact that
few women receive care during pregnancy, especially in the
rural areas, is an important contributing factor.' For“EX—i
ample, in Mexico, deepite a considerable amount of progress
in this reSpect, only 15 percent of expectant mothers
receive medical care before delivery, in Thailand, only 20
*percent.

‘ In the cities, more and more women go to hospitals or
maternity centers for their confinements, but the number of
fbeds is entirely inadequate. In the rural areas, most
deliveries are handled by untrained, traditional birth
attendants. Hemorrhage, infection, and difficult labor,
complicated by anemia, are responsible for many maternal and
neonatal deaths.

Post-neonatal (1-12 months). Infants, like older
children, are susceptible not only to childhood diseases,
but to most of the infectious diseases that threaten adults.
Malaria, while sometimes of secondary importance, may do
great damage before the child acquires partial resistance to
the disease. Infantile diarrheas, dysenteries, and other
diseases related to unhygienic conditions are widespread and
are a principal cause of infant mortality in all the less
developed countries. (In Mexico, it is estimated.that 15 out
of every one thousand infants die of diarrheal disease in
their first year.) Malnutrition and undernutrition in all
their forms can be found in very young children (see page 40)
and are often either the principal or a contributing cause of
death. Acute tuberculosis appears to be most common in large
cities, where overcrowding facilitates its Spread. Syphilis
is not only a factor in sterility+mmiscarriage, and still- >¥:j
birth, but a significant cause of infant mortality_. Some
diseases that have to all intents and purposes been wiped out
in a good part of the world-~smallpox, for example-asti‘ 11
contributes significantly to infant mortality in certain
regions.

Preschool (1-4 years). In countries where high health
standards have been achieved, mortality among children of
this age group has declined dramatically in the last fifty
years. In the less develOped countries, on the other hand,
mortality is still relatively high among preschool Children.
In part, this is owing to the prevalence of communicable
diseases of childhood and common intestinal and respiratory
diseases--diseases whose incidence has been sharply cut in
the developed countries by teChniques of preventive medicine
such as vaccination. Malnutrition also plays a considerable
role in preschool mortality. In the underdevelOped (as in
the deve10ped) countries, it should be noted, Children of
this age are especially liable to accidents.

School age. From the age of five on, mortality rates
for children in the less develOped countries drOp sharply.
Sickness is still common, but better health rather than sur-
vival becomes the dominant health problem."l

 

lIbid., pp. 29 and 32.

28

l

4. Ardener did research among the Bakweri women in Western

Cameroon. The Bakweris live in Southwest Cameroon Republic. They

live near the coast east of Nigeria and are about 300 miles away from
Nsukka where this study is made. Ardener, in the fertility part of
his study, looks into the various aSpects of reproduction.

(a) He gave the following estimate about fertility rate among the
Bakweris as a whole and fertility rate among the young generations as

Opposed to the older generation.

“The mean total fertility of women over fifty
years, that is the number of live births per woman
living through the child-bearing period (termed by
Lorimer the Maternity Ratio), was 4.517xwhich may
be compared with figures in the order of 5.50 or 6.00
computed for several African peoples. Lower figures
than that for the Bakweri have been estimated, for
example, for the Baganda and Bahaya of Uganda
(between 3.00 and 4.00) which, however, constitute a
recognized area of low fertility.

(b) Ardener next looked into the rates of miscarriages and still-

N

births among the Bakweri women.

"As a result of this semantic problem, out of
420 failed pregnancies only seven could be indiSput-
ably identified as stillbirths. The subject was
clearly a painful one and it seemed humane not to
insist on the distinction, deSpite, its scientific
interest and importance. The data for all 'failed
pregnancies' combined are therefore set out in Table
42. The combined miscarriage and stillbirth rates
were: (a) 112.15 per 1,000 completed pregnancies,
and (b) 455.5 per 1,000 women ever pregnant. Similar
rates for Fortes's Ashanti sample would be (a) 74.76
per 1,000 completed pregnancies and (b) 344.55 per
1,000 women ever-pregnant. For the Bahaya (from
small figures) the value for (a) would be only 62.79
per 1,000 completed pregnancies.3 Such evidence
suggests that the Bakweri rates are quite high.

 

1Ardener, E. Divorce and Fertility: An African Study,
Oxford University Press, 1962.

Ibid., pp. 48 and 49.

31bid., p. 51.

9
2

.xmmma 0» mmma mo muuoamm
moaumaumum Hmuq> can kuamoHOAEmpamn Housed m.c0aumwacnmuo nuammm camp: any Bonn Umaadaou was mannav

r

 

 

 

 

 

 

u I mma.oa os~.oaa mma.o mmm.as mmp.oa ¢o~.mma n n mom.H was.ma mmma
adv mao.oa mmo.oa pep.am mm~.a H~¢.¢o u u «mm nas.m mmm.a pma.aa mmma
awe mm~.m Ham.m mma.am mp0.» smo.ao poo.m asp.moa mm.mm pm~.m sem.a www.ma hmma
mam Hem.a mm».m v~o.~m ms¢.a mmo.mp ems.p mao.mwa mmm mmo.~ osa.a omm.vH ommfl

ucmucH a». ucmmcH a». ucmuau mus ucmucu my. ucmucH as. acumen a».
.uuoz. uamumz .uuoz uamumz .unoz uamumz .uuoz -Hmumz .uuoz namumz .uuo: -Hmumz mumps
cmEE< mmnsom oufimcmo mo Cam undo coaxmz «nouamz,i momma
cuckoo mfipcmr Haunum coaxmz mmcmx Maummfiz
«Has «oemmza zHaau «uHmma
oauoz mcu H0 mCOHmmm mmusa CH >uwamunoz MCMMCH .n manta

30
Table 8.

    

Average Fertility by WOmen's Ages at the Time of the Study.*

 

"v,— —— —'-_4__.. - _— m .——.. 4.4—V _. . .____.—. ,, - m-»

Present Ages of

 

WOmen Bakweri Fouta Djallon"‘ Ashanti Buganda Buhaya
(a) (b) (b) (b) (b)
-20 years (0.94) 0.48 0.50 0.31 0.45
20-24 years 1.79 1.92 1.58 0.90 1.19
25-29 " 2.25 3.22 2.36
1.74 2.11
30-34 " 2.62 4.43 3.58
35-39 “ 3.06 4.81 4.75
2.38 2.23
40-44 “ 3.31 5.67 5.46
45-49 " 4.06 5.05 5.96
50 years and over 4.51 5.50 6.23
45059 years 2.92 3.31

 

*Adapted from Ardener's Study, pages 48-49.

(a) Inflated by omission of females without conjugal experience.
(b) Sources: Fouta Djallon: Blanc, p. 120.

Ashanti: Lorimer, pp. 76, 309 and 312.

Buganda and Buhaya: Lorimer, p. 309.

Table 9. Failed Pregnancies (Miscarriages and Stillbirths Combined) by

Women's Present Ages*
W

 

 

 

Failed Failed
p...... iii$§§.- ":3::_ giggiggfd ’5:E“i?83§3 ”£23“??8335
Ages cies Pregnant cies women ever- Completed
(years) Pregnant Pregnancies
15-19 16 70 99 229 162
20-25 40 107 251 374 159
25-29 67 109 342 615 196
30-34 61 105 407 581 150
35-39 64 91 394 703 162
40-44 24 74 319 324 75
45-49 39 85 433 459 90
59 apd over 199 281 1499 388 73
TOTAL 420 922 .3744 _4§6, 112

 

_r._

*Adapted from Ardener's Study, page 51.

31

On the other hand, if it were arbitrarily assumed
that miscarriages were to still-births approx-
imately in the ratio of two to one (as in Ashanti
and Bahaya), a figure for (c) the number of still-
births per 100 births of the order of 4.0 is
obtained, which although high by European standards
if assumed to equal miscarriages the figure would
be 5.9, which may be taken for practical purposes
as the upper limit of the rate derivable from
these figures.”

5. Also studied was V. A. Oyenuga's review of Dr. Nicol's research
in infant mortality among children in the North of Nigeria.

"For when the survey was carried out in that
province, 21 percent of the children born there
died in the first year, 32 percent were dead at the
end of the second year, 40 percent at the end of
the third year, and fifty-one percent at the end of
the fifth year.

The death rate and the viability of the young
is a useful index for assessing health in any
given community. The number of deaths in the
first year of life per one-thousand live births
is known in health science as the infant mortal-
ity rate. The infant mortality rate for six of
the technically advanced countries of the world
in 1949 are as follows: ‘

Per 1,000 Per 1,000
Holland 27 Canada 43
New Zealand ' 24 United States
Australia 25 of America 31

England and
Wales 32

Reliable figures are not available for Nigeria
since compulsory registration of births and

deaths is not in practice except in Lagos. Even
here the figures available must be taken with mudh
caution since widespread evasion of registration
is practiced. The following figures from the
Health Department of Lagos Town Council show the
very high rate of infant mortality in Lagos for

1950.
Per 1,000
Birth rute 55.9
Death rate 16.2

Infant mortality
rate 85.7

32

In a number of villages and towns surveyed by

Dr. Nicol in the Northern Region and by Professor
Brown in the West, and following estimated
figures of infant mortality rates are revealing.

North West
Bida 254 Illu 428
Kontagoro 357 Ibadan Town 277
luru 381 Ibadan Villages 294

These figures of high mortality rates show
that the Nigerian infant has poor life expectancy.
There is no doubt that with better food for the
mothers and infants they would be better able to
withstand the attacks of these high mortality
rates. Even in cases in which the attack of these
diseases are cured those so kept alive are still
unfit and feeble because of malnutrition.“ 1

anclusion
The literature thus far cited has revealed, among other things,

that maternal and infant mortality in the underdeveloped areas of the
world are higher than in the developed ones. This is, however ex-
pected, because-the well-being of amother and her infant depend
greatly on the mother's social and economic level as well as the
level of medical care available to them. The above facilities are
very limited for an average person in the underdevelOped countries of
Africa, Asia and Latin America, hence the high mortality.

It is also evident from pregnancy histories and maternal
records of different nations that the period of reproduction is one of
risk for many women. This risk accrues from the extraordinarily heavy
physiological demands of pregnancy, paturition and lactation which

often are accompanied by complicated health hazards. In Nigeria the

 

1V.A. Oyenuga, Our Needs and Resources in Food and Agriculture

Published by the Federal Ministry of Information 1959, Lagos, Nigeria.

33
risks of reproduction are made worse by the population's various
beliefs and customs: ladk of education for the majority of the peOple,
very limited amenities and most of all the poor sanitary conditions of
most homes.

I The rate of infant and maternal mortality is often used as a
yard-stick for measuring the general standard of living of a popula-
tion. It was evident from the foregoing literature review that as a
nation improves its standard of living by mass education of its peOple
and advancement in science and technology, the reproduction risks and
many other complications of Child-rearing decrease considerably. For
example, maternal mortality in the United States of America drOpped
from 100 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1915 to less than 40 per
1,000 in 1946. That of infant mortality also dr0pped from about 90
(per 10,000) in 1915 to about 15 per 10,000 live births in 1946.1
This drOp has been consistent in the United States since then.

The reviewed literature gives some insight into the multiple
causes of high infant and maternal mortality in the less developed
countries. In these countries, the level of sanitation, public health,
and nutrition is low and inadequate and therefore reduces body '
resistance of both the mother and child to diseases. Even without
prematurity or other neonatal handicaps, the infant who does survive
the difficult process of birth probably does not have, after the first
month of birth, a Chance of surviving equal to that of infants in the
more favored countries. For the infants in these countries face the

problems of infectious diseases such as ekiri, an acute form of

1Toverud, Stearns and Macy. Maternal Nutrition and Child
Health an Integpretative Review: National Research Council, National
Academy of Science Bulletin No. 123, washington, D.C., Nov. 1950,

pp. 9 and 21.

34
diarrhea which causes a high number of infant deaths in Japan;
infantile beriberi in the Far Eastern countries: pellogra and rickets,
amoebiasis, tuberculosis, typhus, malaria and Kwashiorkor (protein
deficiency) in Africa: and widespread incidence of dysentery diseases,
acute reSpiratory infection, and tuberculosis in South America.

It is therefore hOped that as these countries improve their
general standard of living, and educate the masses of their pOpulation,
the infant and maternal mortality will decrease. The relative prior-
ity of these various areas of need, and the relative priority which
can be accorded to this group of needs as a part of the much wider
over-all needs of mothers and children in all fields, are questions to
be answered by the governments and peoples of the countries concerned,
with due regard to the welfare and well-being of their young genera-
tions.

With the purpose of the study as stated in chapter one, the
literature review in the preceding chapter, and the study which is to
be described in detail in the next chapter the author hopes that an
explanatory study of this kind will make the peOple reSponsible for
such improvements more conscious of the facts of these situations and

their Specific areas of existence.

PART III

PROCEDURE

Intrgduction
The basic philosophy of the University of Nigeria at Nsukka

calls for expert planning to meet the University's commitment to
improve the surrounding community and the rest of the Nation. This
study, although initiated by the Sociology department, is being used
by almost all Departments of the University. For example, with the
study data and information, the medical department will be better able
to plan its health programs: the engineering carry out work of con-
struction of roads, public facilities and other projects like sewage
diSposal: improve family living i.e. housing, nutrition and Child care
programs: the agriculture department its food production: and so with
other departments of the University. In addition to the above areas
of participation which brought about this study, funds were also made
available by a grant from the United Nations to study both infantile
and maternal mortality.

Many peOple were involved in the study. The following is a
list of those whose contribution was considerable: the area district
officer who gave area maps: Dr. M. Hill, director of study and one of
the formulators of the questionnaire: mr. Blount of the 0.8. Peace
Corps who remapped the study area: Dr. M. Kirkland of the Home

Economics department who assisted in formulation of the questionnaires:

35

36

the author and a number of assistants drawn from the staff of the
local primary school staff.

This part of the study fits into the general sCheme of the
"Nigersity Study“ in that it links the first carried out by Nancy "
Axinn in 1963. and the parts to follow. The first part dealt with
patterns of activities among homemakers. The present part deals with
infant and maternal mortality, child-bearing and rearing practices of
the same people. The later parts may deal with demographic and
social records which, in turn, will serve as basis of evaluating the

University's impact on peOple in later research.

Develogment of Interview SChedule

The researcher gained some insight into the issue of infant
mortality and other mishaps of pregnancy in Africa from various
literature and health reports, some of which have already been cited
in the literature review. This as well as the researCher's observa-
tions while working in Nsukka communities, form the basis upon which
parts of the questionnaire were formulated. (See questionnaire at the
end of study, Appendix I) Identification information, and a series of
open-ended questions relating to pregnancy, childebirth and infant

mortality were asked.

Refining the Interview Schedule

The researCher, though a Nigerian, and an Ibo too, had
difficulties in understanding Nsukka Ibo. The women reapondents also
found it hard to understand the researCher's dialect. Therefore,
several visits were made to many homes in the Nigersity communities
with some elementary-school teaChers and some students from the
University of Nigeria who were indigenous of the area. These peOple

helped a great deal to clarify some communication problems between the

37
researCher and the reSpondents. Also, a number of visits were made in
company of WHO health and maternity nurses from WHO'S Health Centre in
Nsukka. Sister Leedham, who was in charge of training of these nurses
including the student nurses, gave me some insight regarding the
population's attitudes toward pregnancy and children. The contribu-
tion of these people helped in refining the schedule.

The researcher worked as an extension agent at the time the
interview schedule was being refined. Quite a lot of information re-
garding pregnancy and children was gathered during the community
classes among the women. Also, very helpful to the research was guid-
ance from Dr. M. Kirkland, Head of the College of Home Economics and
.r. M. Hill of the Department of Sociology,both of whom I have al-

ready‘mentioned.

Testing the Instrument

, Contact was made with a few women in the researCher's community
'WClaSSes. Social home visits were arranged during these. The
researcher had the Opportunity to both observe and converse at length
on the issues raised in the questionnaire. Three visits were made,

one to St. Teresa's Catholic hOSpital where the researCher inter-
viewed a midwife who was a native of Nsukka. The other two visits

were with two women who were members of researCher's community classes
at Ibagwa and Obra villages, reSpectively. The discussions during the

visits and some reactions of these women gave further insight as to

how some of the questions should be framed.

Sampling
Originally, it was hOped that the sample would be drawn random»

1y from the base map developed for the purpose of the study. Owing to

the difficulties whiCh the researCher ran into during the collection

fi—iw—' ... fiwW—fi-n- nefvfifiii ",Ffi _——..,_

38
of data, however, the sample is non-random. These difficulties are
explained in the data collection section. The reSpondents were from
about twelve different villages around the University site. The dis-
tances between the University and these villages range from a few yards
to twelve miles. Of the 96 subjects involved in the study, 24 came
from Ofoko, 20 from Edem Ani, 13 each from Obra—Imilike and Onu Iyi,
and 11 from Odenigbo. (See positions of villages on the map at the
end of study) The other seven villages each had one or two
representatives in the study. Most of the peOple involved in the
study were members of the researCher's community classes. They came
from various socio-economic levels. A few of them had received a
little formal education, but most were illiterates. Because of great
diversities in the culture of many African communities, it is not wise
to consider this group as highly representative of Nsukka division,
let alone Nigeria as a whole. Nevertheless, findings from this group

can indicate some basis on which a more extensive survey could be made.

Qata_Collection

Data were collected by the researcher herself between MarCh
and June, 1962. During that period, the researcher was a full—time
employee of the University, teaching adult community classes in 12
different villages around the University of Nigeria and also assisting
a few classes in the College of Home Economics. The researcher made
appointments to interview the subjects in their homes. Most of these
appointments were made after the community classes with the women.
The evenings of non-market days and Sundays were preferred by the women.
Some women in the researCher's classes preferred to come into the
University for the interview. This was an exciting experience for

many of them. Other interviews carried out around Nsukka town were

39
arranged individually with the women in their home at times con-
venient to them. The visits made in St. Teresa's HOSpital in Nsukka
were arranged with the Sister doctor in charge, and appointments were
made to interview those patients who were willing to reSpond.
It was mentioned earlier that the researcher ran into some
difficulties when collecting the data. These were in connection with

__ _.. ...——-—...-—-p-~ h..._ _.
-_..— .- W—_—‘ "

the reSpondentsf_unfavorable attitude toward any stranger taking

4J-
W

notes beforerthem. This attitude stemmed from their experience during

 

the early days of British administration when formal taxation was in-
troduced. Government officers carried papers about counting people,
livestock and peOples' prOperty, after which peOple were asked to pay
tax according to the number of adult males, livestock and prcperty.
These incidents which had since been repeated several times made many
peOple suspicious of any stranger who carried paper around asking such
questions as "How many children are there in your family? What is
your job? How much do you earn in a year?“ etc. These were some of
the questions posed in the study. Similar questioning started the Aba

1

women riot in 1929. The Nsukka peOple are generally kind and warm to

strangers, but not many of them welcome the idea of people probing in-

‘1‘ -5

to their private lives as the studyhtended to do. As a matter of fact,
this characteristic is not only true of the Nsukka district, but true
of nearly every district in Eastern Nigeria.

Because the researcher was met by these obstacles during the

first few weeks of the interviewing when she was following the tract

lSylvia Leith Ross, African Women - A Study of the Ibos of
Nigeria: Faber and Faber Ltd., London 1934, pp. 23e39.

40
map developed for the Nigersity study, she later dropped the use Of the

interview sChedule with certain respondents. Despite this, many

-—_-—

respondents were very suspicious Of the researCher's queries and

tended to be highly reserved.
.fl/ _ -

III-

Another circumstance that seemed to produce restraint and a
suspicious attitude on the part of the respondents was the nature of
the study itself. It is not common for the Ibos to Openly discuss

matters concerning pregnancy, childbirth and deaths in their family.
Suchwmatters are Often discussed in private with the elderly members
Of the family, not in presence of youngsters or strangers. hBesides,
there is the general belief that counting the number Of children one

_flwiffl###__l_
has either prOVOked the anger Of the gods who send them to you and

theyctake them back: or arouse the jealousy of neighboring enemies who
may;kill the children through witChcraft. This was disclosed to the
researcher by some student-respondents in the researCher's community
classes.

A few Of the women who were also the researCher's community
students accompanied the researcher when she was interviewing in their
neighborhoods. In most cases, however, the researCher went round the
villages with local primary school teachers. These teachers, who were
natives Of Nsukka, not only helped to convince the women to respond
to the queries but also helped to clarify some language difficulties
between the researcher and the respondents.

The above mentioned circumstances including the fact that the
questionnaire was fairly long and took two to three hours or more to
finish, made it difficult to complete more than the 96 forms. The
researCher made more than one visit to some homes in order to complete

their forms. Many peOple received her at second or_third visits.

41
But there were places where she found deserted compounds or locked
doors on the appointed dates. There were about 31 uncompleted forms
which are not included in the data. (see an account of an incident
between a researcher and a respondent on page Appendix II (a).
The researcher spent about four months in the Nsukka area be-

fore beginning the interviewing. Teaching the adult women community

classes, and visiting many of the students homes gave her the Oppor—
tunity to be familiar with many of Nsukka greetings and other formal-
ities eXpected in various situations. So, on entering any compound,
she usually went round greeting people, shaking hands and paying
respects to the oldest menbers of the family, carrying and hugging the
children that ran after her, and finally settling down with the woman
she came to interview at the woman's work place. Sometimes children,
husband and other neighbors stood by. The researCher often introduced
her topic thusly: “Some of you who know me, know that I work in the
University. This University which is on your land, and being
supported by part of your husband's tax money, needs some contribu-
tions from you other than money and land. The people who are working
in the University consider it necessary that this University should
include in her teadhing the customs of the land. Many of us who work
here have either studied in EurOpean or American universities.
Education in any of these countries is patterned after the cultures of
the peOple of those countries. Therefore, for this University to be
Nigerian we must incorporate the Nigerian cultures in our teachings.
That is why I am here today asking these questions.“

The above sermon-like Speech was the researCher‘s most power-
ful weapon flat the interview. For those reSpondents who could under-

stand what this meant, one could see the glow on their faces as they

42
responded to the questions enthusiastically.

The part of pregnancy history of the questionnaire seemed to
be most embarrassing to the respondents. Quite often, when the
researcher got to that section of the interview, she requested polite-
ly the absence of men and children in the room. And the respondents
often felt freer when they were gone.

In the light of the situations enumerated above, it is hOped
that anyone interpreting the results of the interview will be limited
in his or her conclusions rather than over-generalize some issues

raised in the study as being typical of Nigeria or the rest of Africa.

PART IV
ANALYSIS or DATA

The analysis of the data has been done in simple descriptive
form supported, occasionally, by findings of earlier research in the
field. Some interesting remarks of the reSpondents have been dis-
cussed in order to clarify and reinforce the data. Where possible,
some of the results are given as percentages of total sample popula-

tion.

Section I: Description of Respondents

The description of the reapondents was made under the headings

 

of (a) ages, (b) mobility pattern, (c) religion, (d) language and
education.
Ages:

Most respondents did not know their ages since no birth
records were kept.“ Consequently, many of the ages given were

estimates. Table 10 gives the age range of reSpondents' estimates.

Table 10. Estimated Age Range of Respondents

—_—' W
. ‘4"-

 

 

 

 

 

gge Rangeg No. of Resoondentg
15-44 years 72
45 years and over 24

 

From Table 10 it can be seen that the lumping of reSpondents
in the age bracket of 15-44 years is not too eXplanatory. It would
have been clearer if the range had been broken down into ten-year

43

44

intervals. But the questionnaire was framed in the two categories
given in Table 10. Therefore, further conclusions, though desirable,
could not be made. The author is of the opinion that this block of 15
to 44 years was chosen because this was considered to be the more

reproductive years of women.

Mobility Patterns:

Most subjects in the study had never lived outside therfiggkka
district: i.e. 72 out of 96 (about 62%) of the total pOpulation of
the study. Twenty-one out of 96 (about 23%) came from elsewhere in
Eastern Region of Nigeria, while the remaining two came from Western
Nigeria. Ten out of the 24 subjects who were not born in Nsukka
district had been there only 6 months to 2 years. This probably indi-
cates that some of these ten must have migrated to Nsukka to seek

employment since the establishment of the University.

Religion:
Although more of the subjects in the study belonged to the

Christian religion, there were some of other faiths. Table 11 gives

this religious breakdown.

 

 

Table 11. Respondents According to Religions

 

-——-

Christian Traditional* Others
ther ‘Unclassified
Catholics Anglican Protestants Christians

 

 

33 12 6 2 38 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Traditional religion is defined here as any deity of the people: e.g.
the gods, spirits and ancestors which the peOple worship.

Looking at Table ll one sees that Catholics (33) make up a
majority of Christians in the study. It is also noteworthy that

traditional religion still features prominently among the Nsukka people.

45

Language and Education

Everyone in the study except 7 (who are not recorded) spoke
Ibo dialect of one kind or another. Forty-one subjects spoke Ibo
without designation, 24 spoke Nsukka dialect, while the other 24 spoke
both Nsukka Ibo and others. Six subjects could not read or write any
language. Twenty-one subjects both'spOke and wrote native language,
another non-African language and English. Five of the subjects were
unaccounted'for. Of the 96 subjects in the study, 63 of them never
attended school-~65%.of the sample. Thirty-three subjects had formal
education ranging from primary I (let grade in American classification)
to class V secondary school, (12th grade in American equivalent). Of
the 33 subjects who had formal education, only one got to the second-
ary level. The rest stopped between I and VI. The number of
illiterates (illiterates here means those who said they could not read
or write any language) in the sample was expected and it is even
interesting to find 32 percent literate in this group, which is
relatively high, compared with 25 percent as given by the Federal
Ministry of Information for Eastern Nigeria.l

It is interesting to note from the data that there was only

_ ._p-- -""V"*

one woman out of the 96 who was separated from her husband. No

“a“-

divorce was recordedmat. all. Another-interesting thing is that 84 of

 

the 96 women (72.4%) were in monogamous marriages. There were 8

households with 3 wives. This distribution is far from what the

 

K

researcher expected. The general consensus is that many homes in

-_.__ —..1....-_...‘

 

Africa are polygamous. The present data leads us to want to examine

 

”Mm

the consensus more systematically.

..-—-—"""

I!!! ~ ‘
To summarize, the sample comprised of 96 women from different

villages around the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Ages ranged from
,3].

~ ’Sfederal'Ministry of Information. WFECéS ABCN£QN1§é££§o"
Lagos, Nigeria 1960.

 

46

19 to 45 years and over. Everyone in the sample was a full-time

housewife. The majority (72%) of the 96 women came from monogamous
households. Sixty-two percent of the sample had never lived outside
Nsukka. Most people involved in the study, except seven, were Ibos.
About one-third of the study population could read and write.

Slightly more than half (54) of the subjects were Christians, and over

a third (38) belonged to the traditional religion.

Section II: Subjects' Opinions on Best Numbe£_of Children

The attitudes of the women toward children was one of the
things the study sought. The subjects' reSponses to the best number

of Children a family should have were as given in Table 12.

Table 12. Preferred Number of Children
W 4

N9, of Children

 

 

N9. of Reapondents

 

 

2 to 4 children 1 person
5 to 7 children 29 persons
8 to 10 “ 20 "
11 to 15 “ lO "
16 to 20 " 5 “
Unlimited children -'31 "
96 Total

Table 12 shows that the pOpular numbers of children wished by

the reSpondents are from fiye to ten: 49 out of the total of 96, i.e.
lirwvrrw"

about 51 percent fall within this range. Fifteen subjects wished any-

thing from ll to 20, while the rest of the subjects except 1 person

who wished 2 to 4 children gave general answers like "unlimited, as

many as God gives."

47
Respondents wishing more or fewer children than they already
had, were asked the reasons for their respective wishes. Table 13

shows the distribution for these responses.

Table 13. Reasons for Choosing Number of Children

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number Wishing Number Wishing
Fewer Children Reasons More Children Reasons
6 No money and food 12 Need plenty, some may
to maintain them fidie
4 / Personal security in
old agg_¥
5 , Prestige and economic
benefit in large family
5 No money to give 18 General positive
them prOper answers, e.g. “Likes
education children, what is

_ ggd' s willJ
\

.sTthgs 11 39

*Note that in this table only 50 out of the 96 subjects gave
the reasons for their choice.

 

One hesitates to draw a conclusion from this distribution, for
a number of reasons. already mentioned is the fact that this study is
bilingual and also directed by a person from a Western culture. Let
us consider the ambiguity of this question, “In your Opinion what is
the best number of children that a family Should have?" “A family“
as it is understood in the Western culture is a unit of husband and
'wife with their immediate children. This is different from an average
Nigerian's notion of the word. To a Nigerian, a family consists of a
husband, wife or wives, their children, father and mothers—in-law,
brothers, sisters, etc. of the extended family unit. A Nigerian woman
also regards the children of her husband's other wives as hers. So,

it is likely that some reSpondents who answered ten to twenty children

48
or “Unlimited number“ might have been Operating under this frame.)
”Household“ as used in this study is a unity with mother, father,
children and other relations Of either husband or wife.

The researcher sought the Opinion of the women concerning the
effect of bearing another Child on the respondent's health and the
family's economic condition. Five_women felt that bearing another
child would affect their'health: six felt it would affect their
economic situation: 7 women gave the combination of health, economic
and physical appearance as being affected; while the majorityh764-
(81.2%) felt it would neither affect their health nor their ebonomic
situation.

Normally, one would expect that the physical and economic
demands of pregnancy and rearing more Children would make a difference
in a family's decision for more Children. But, the majority of the
subjects reaponded to the contrary to the eXpectation.

The researCher's Observation to this apparent contradiction is
that many Nigerian women, due to their limited knowledge of pregnancy
and lactation processes, and lack of a knowledge of adequate nutrition
at such times, blame such troublesfilike anemia etc. on witches sucking
their blood. Hence, to them bearing more children as such brings no
economic or physical strain so long as the witChes and gods keep their
hands Off.

The subjects' Opinions Of the best age for a woman to get
married was asked. Some people in Nigeria still believe that a woman

should get married early in life in Order to produce many Children.

____,_...——...-.—-

 

__,"__..—-—— _ 1_

Also, it was necessary to know the situation concerning people' 8
beliefs in the custom of Child marriage which is supposed to be common

among the Ibos. Opinion was also sought concerning the time a woman

4.9
should have her first child after marriage and the age she should have
her last Child. The last two questions were necessary to know whether
the subjects realized the importance of age as a factor Of successful
reproduction. One of the reports of the United States National
Research Council shows that between ages 10 to 14, and after««3are most
risky periodsfor reproduction.1 Table 14 shows the breakdown of the
subjects' Opinions On the three questions--when a woman should get
married, how soon should she have her first child after marriage, and

when she should have her last child.

Table 14. Opinions on Best Marriage Times and Times Of Having First
and Last Children
W

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A B C
.Best Marriage Age Best Time Of First Best Time of Last
Child Aftgr Marriage Child After Marriage

Time Respondents Time Respondents Time ReSpondents
(Year?) (months). (Kestrel — __

7 5r”less 2 a76-lO=r2' 7 :40 or lgss 45

- \._.._.
8-10 1 11-12 8 41-44 2
//
11-13 _ 5 ’ 13-19“ 55 45-50 12
/ '
14116 T 33 J
K\ ; 19-24 0 51-55 2

1.729 ‘33/

21 or more 6 24-60 I 7 56-60 2
General

(when the 2 60+ 1 No Opinion 31
husband comes

NO Opinions 13 No Opinion 17

Totals 96 ' 96 96

 

A glance at Table 14 shows four outstanding features. First,

in section A of the table, one sees that ages l4~20 are most often

 

lune. “Maternal Nutrition and Child Health,“ National Academy
of Sciences: Washington, D.C., Bul. NO. 123, 1950, p. 11.

50 V.
(60) chosen by respondents as best ages for getting married. This
shows that most peOple in the study are shifting from the Old custom
Of Child-marriage to a more modern One'of marriage in the middle of

bite adolescence.-

I
.-

" In section B of the same table, it can be seen that 13-19
months is chosen by many subjects (55) asthe best time for having the
'first child after marriage. 'In section C, 40,yeafs‘of age or less was
.preferred as the time a wOman should have her last child. The number
swho expressed_no Opinions on these three questiOns should be noted. In
seCtions A and B, the differences, though outstanding, are not as dis-
tinct as that of section C where 31 subjects gave no Opinions. It has
already been mentioned that most peOple in Nigeria hesitate to answer
questions regarding age because no age records are usually kept. There-
fore, the large number of no Opinions in this question may have been
.due to this factor.

The next point considered along with subjects' attitudes to-
wards age Of marriage, time of having first and last Children was that

Of time intervals between births. This is shown by the data of Table

15.

Table 15. Opinions on Intervals Between Births
W

 

Length of After lst. After 2nd. After 3rd 4th
Time between ‘Pregnangy Pregnancy ‘_P£egnancy Pregnancy
NO Opinion ' "»" ' 4 , 13 16 18
Unknown 1 ll 22 25
From 9 to 19 months 8 5 4 3

" 19 to 30 1 " _ 33 25 25 16

“ 30 to 42 " 43 37 34 26

” 42 ogymore “ 7 5 4 4

 

TOTAL 96 . 96 96 96

 

51
Table 15 shows most women clustering more in the periods be-
tween 19 to 42 months than in periods over QQMNQPFhB- Another glance

at the same table shows the highest Opinions Of the women to be be-

tween 30 months and 42 months. This result is'not a surprise to the

..._- ._
i».-

researCher. It rather strengthens her observations that most
traditional Nigerian women have 2 to 38 year periods between births.

Some of the women specifically answered with no Opinion.

Others were recorded as unknown. It is not possible to tell whether
the respondents did not answer the question, or if they answered "it
is unknown.”

It is worth commenting on the large number of the sample who
again responded no Opinion or unknown. Earlier in the study, the
researcher mentioned that many people in the sample resented any
questions concerning pregnancy. Most felt that suCh questions were un-
reasonable because most matters concerning child-bearing were in God's
hands and not within their own command. This probably accounted for
the numbers of no responses which kept increasing as the question was
repeated for the following pregnancies.

The subjects' Opinions concerning approval or disapproval Of
women working while pregnant, showed that most of the sample pOpulation
was in favor Of having pregnant women work. With 5 women giving no
Opinion, there were 84 approvals and 7 non-approvals. It is difficult
to base any conclusion on this result since work was not Specified in

the questionnaire.

Summa
1. One-third of the group indicated a preference for an unlimited
number Of_children: while half of the women preferred limiting the

‘humber to a range of 5 to 10 children.

52
2. Not many homemakers in this group are in favor Of fewer children

than they already have.

. f

3. The majority of the women who wished more Children gave suCh
reasons as fondness for children, prestige, security in Old age,

economic benefits, and likely loss Of some Of the Children.

\—

~....._

4. Most women were not satisfied with the number Of children they had
at the time Of study and wished for more. Many felt that bearing an-
other child would neither affect their health nor their economic
situation.‘

”Sf/#There were wide differences in Opinion among the group as to the
age a woman should have her first child after marriage. However, 66
(of the 96 women (roughly 68%) chose the ages between 14 to 20 years as
the best for getting married, and 55 Of the 96_(about 57%) chose 12 to
19 months after marriage as the best period to have the first child.
6. The popular Opinion as to when a woman shOuld have her last child
was 40 years, whiCh was chosen by 45 of the 96 women. There were 31

who Offered no Opinion on this question.
7. The most frequent Opinion concerning the ideal periods between
births was between 15 to 38 years. This confirms Onabamiro's1

observations that women in West Africa resume sexual intercourse with

their husbands about 2% years after bearing a child.

Section III: Fertility and Mortality
This part of the study was the most difficult for the
researCher to get reSponses. Some reasons for this difficulty have

already been mentioned. To some women, matters concerning births and

N...”

\_

 

deaths of children are too embarrassing or distressful to discuss with

_ 4 #w-r-r-‘i—

lOnabamiro, Op. cit., p. 24.

53
non-elderly members of their family. The little episode narrated in
\Ehe_third part of this study (data collection) illustrated what happened
in many cases. Anyway, the researcher was still able to gather some
information about fertility and mortality.

The household sizes as recorded from the 96 interview sChedules,

are shown on Table 16.

Table 16. Household Size

W

 

NO. of Persons in Household NO. Of Responses
1-3 persons 4
4-6 “ 44
7-10 " 34
11-15 " 14

It is worth mentioning that these figures were classified for
different uses. The original interview schedules were not available
for the researCher to refer to the Specifics. Therefore, I have used
the averages of each of the ranges recorded above for further dis-
cussions on this issue. From these ranges, the average number of

people in the 96 households is worked out thusly:

Table 17. Number of People in Household

 

 

. .o—u———--

 

*n‘.‘

 

Ranges Reaponses Average NO. in each Range
1-3 4 2 2 x 4 = 8

4-6 44 5 5 x 44: 220

7-10 34 8% 83x34 = 289

ll-lS 14 13 13 x 14: 182

 

96 Total = 699

 

54
The average of 699 people for the 96 households is 7.3 per-
sonsflper household. This is relatively high, compared with—3.4“
persons given by Tate and Glisson1 as average family size in the
United States of America in 1959.

Similar figures of household averages for an African country

are from M.G. Smith's study Of Hausa Communities of Zaria Northern

2
Nigeria and N.W. Axinn's study of “Homemaking Activities in Nsukka”

Eastern Nigeria.3

In both studies the averages were worked out in
terms of compounds, individual families and work units. Before going
on with the averages given by these researchers, it is necessary to
define compound, individual families and work unit. Mr. M.G. Smith
defines compound as "...a walled or fenced rectangle with an entrance-
hut, a forecourt in which a hut or two is usually found and one or
more interior divided from the fore-court by fences Of matting or
walls."

He defines individual family to mean those families which are
separate units of domestic economy. Also “work unit" as used by M.G.
Smith means a separate unit of domestic economy with common production
and consumption of food, a single head, a common pot, a common granary
and a common farm.4

N.W. Axinn defines household as family group consisting Of a

man, his wife or wives, their children and other relatives or peOple

 

1Tate, M.T. and Glisson, 0. Family Clothing: John Wiley and
Sons, Inc. New York, London, July 1961, p. 13.

2G.M. smith. The Economy of Hausa Communities Zaria, H.M.S.
Stationary Office, London, 1955.

3N.W. Axinn. Homemaking Activities in Sglected Eastern
Nigezian Household, M.A. Thesis, Michigan State University, East
Lansing, 1963.

4Smith, M.G., 92‘ cit., p. 19.

55

identifying with that family group.1 Smith's averages for individual
family was 5.17, that of work unit 6.83, and that Of a compound was
13.4. The averages worked out from the totals of Table 1, page 41 of
N.W. Axinn's study is 8.9. AxinnFs definition of household and Smith's
definition Of work unit come closest to the working definition of
household in this study. Therefore, it could be inferred that the 7.3
per household estimated average for this study, Smith's 6.83 of work
unit and Axinn's 8.9 of household averages are within the same range.

The total number of Children in each household was estimated

as follows:

Table 18. Number of Children Living in the Same Household
W

 

NO. of Children NO. of Responses Totals
NO Children 4 _
1 Child 11 11 x 1 = 11
2 Children 11 11 x 2 = 22
3 Children 18 18 x 3 = 54
4 Children 16 16 x 4 = 64
5 children 12 12 x 5 = 60
6 Children l4 14 x 6 = 84
7 or more 10 10 x 7 = 70

 

Total =365

 

——.u—

*The original interview schedules are not available at the Michigan
State University where this analysis is being done. So the researcher
cannot know the exact figures of the last reaponses--“7 or more
children” and have theefore used the 7 for the 10 responses.

 

1Axinn, N.W., Op, cit., p. 5.

56
From the calculated total number of children living in the

same house, the average Children per household are 3.8. All children
in the households do not necessarily belong to the women by birth. The
total number Of peOple estimated in the whole study, including Child-
’ren is 699. Of these 365were children from 1 to about 14 years Old.
This means that Children outnumbered adults by 31 persons.

The number of Children under five years of age in eaCh

household ranged as shown on Table 19.

Table 19. Number Of Children Under 5 years

 

*—

 

 

 

Number of Children Under

 

 

 

5 Years Old NOL_Of Reaponses _
0 30
l or 2 54
3 or 4 l2

 

Table 19 shows that 66 of the 96 subjects (68.75%) and Child-

ren under five years of age at the time of the interview.
The number Of Children who were five to fourteen years old at

the time Of interview ranged as shown on Table 20.

Table 20. Number Of Children 5 to 14 years

 

 

 

Number of Children From

 

 

 

 

5 to 14 Years Old NO. of Resgonsgg.
.0 10
l or 2 54
3 or 4 23

5 or 6 7

 

57
The above table shows that over half the women in the study
had at the time Of interview 1 or 2 children in their households who
are within the 5 to 14 years brabket; roughly 80% of the 96 women had
children within this range.
The total number of Children born to informants is worked out

by using the range averages recorded in Table-21.‘

Table 21. Total Number of Children Born to Respondents .
W

 

 

NO. of Children in Ranges Respondents Totals

NO child 1 -

1 child 9 9x 1 == 9

2 to 4 children 33 33 x 3 = 99

5 to 7 Children 35 35 x 6 = 210

8 to 10 Children 15 15 x 9 = 135

11 to 15 children 3 3 x 13= 39
Total - 493

 

 

The above rough estimate Of the total number of children

recorded works out to 5.15 children per woman for the whole sample of

96. This figure, Of course, should be interpreted carefully because
of discrepancies in Obtaining the actual figures. It should also be
noted that this figure does not include still-births and miscarriages
recorded in the study. Nevertheless, let us compare this figure with
what Edwin Ardenerl estimated in his fertility study of the Bakweri*

women and some comparisons he made with many other African countries.

 

l

Edwin Ardener. Di O e nd F t lit : An African Stud
(Oxford University Press, 1962).

*The Bakweri peOple live in Western Cameroon in west Africa.

58

Ardener worked out his estimated 4.51 reproduction rate of the Bakweri
women by dividing the "total number of daughters born to women who
passed the menOpause (say over 50 years) by the number of such women."l
Considering that the estimated reproduction rate (5.15) for
this study was the mean for total number Of children born to all
women in the different age groups, most Of who were still less than 50
years Old at the time of interview, the Nsukka women on this basis are
more fertile than the Bakweri women. Both Ardener's and the procedure
used in arriving at rates/Eézeshis study have their faults and there—
fore are only good for the information they give for the reSpective
studies. Ardener compares his 4.51 reproduction rate for Bakweri

women with the following African countries:

"The mean total fertility Of women over fifty years,

that is the number of live births per woman living
through the child-bearing period (termed by Lorimer
(Ghana) the maternity ratio), was 4.51 whiCh may be
compared with figures in the order Of 5.50 or 6.00
computed for several African peoples. Lower figures
than that for the Bakweri have been estimated, for
the Baganda and Bahaya of Uganda (between 3.00 and
4.00) which, however, constitute a recognized area
of low fertility"?

The 5.15 average Children per woman involved in this study falls with»
in the range Of estimates made by other African researchers as the
above passage reveals.

Another interesting figure concerning fertility rate Of
African women is that Of the Hausas from Zaria province, Northern
Nigeria given by Dr. M.G. Smith. For the two areas designated "z"
and ”G" where he conducted the research, it was found that3.01 and
4.00 were the reSpective fertility averages for women whose ages

3

ranged from 20 to 50 years. For women over 50 years the fertility

 

 

1Ibid., p. 52.

2Ibid., p. 52.

‘3

59
rate for “2“ area was 8 live births per woman, while "G" area was

approximately 4 live births per woman.l

Smith's averages for these
two areas although less than that (5.15 arrived at in this study, are
still within the range Of other African countries already cited. How-
ever, his rate (8) for women over 50 in "Z" area is higher than

Ardener's (5.14) ratio of the Bakweri study.

Mortality

Having considered the number of children who survived out of
the total born to the respondents, it may be interesting to know also
the number dead per number born. The total number of deaths recorded
from total number Of children born to respondents is shown on Table

22.

Table 22. Children's Deaths

W

 

 

Number of Children Re5pondents Total Deaths
Unknown 3 _
NO deaths 39 -
1 death 25 25 x 1 = 25
2 deaths 12 12 x 2 = 24
3 deaths 12 12 x 3 = 36
*4 to 6 deaths 5 5 x 5 = 25
Total = 110

 

*On the basis Of this data, the death rate per 1000 births is 210.9520
(21.1%) for Children ages 0—14 years. Comparing with M.G. Smith's
Child mortality in the Zaria study which was 7.4% for children 9 years
and over, it can be seen that the rate obtained by this study is about
3 times as high.

 

lIbid., p. 173.

60
Pregnangy Histogy
The pregnancy histories of respondents in the study were

recorded up to the 8th pregnancy. Table 23 shows the results.

Table 23. Pregnancy Histories of Respondents
W

0 let ~2nd+~3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th Totals

 

Never pregnant or 10 - - - - — - - _ -

unknown
Aborted or mis- - 5 5 2 1 5 1 2 3 24
carried
Stillbirth - 2 l l - 1 - - 1 6
Live birth, child - 19 9 5 9 8 5 3 2 60
died less than
5 years Old
Live birth died - 0 1 - - - - - - 1

from 5 to less
than 1 5 yrs. Old

Live birth living - 10 l3 l8 8 8 9 l3 7 86
less than 5
years Old

Live birth from 5 - 22 26 33 29 15 12 7 2 146
years to less
than 15 yrs.old

Live birth from 15 - 28 22 17 6 5 3 - - 81
years or Older

No answer to all - - 1 1 - - - - — 2
the above but
pregnancy noted.

 

TOTALS - 86 77 78 53 42 3O 25 15 406

Of the 96 subjects involved in this study, 10 had no pregnancy
at all. For the 86 who had pregnancies, the average is 4.72 per
woman. The records taken up to 8th pregnancy of the subjects show a

total Of 406 pregnancies.

61

Of these 86, 15 women had each had 8 pregnancies

10 “ " “ " 7 “
5 " " " “ 6 "

12 " “ " " 5 "

11 " “ " “ 4 “
25 “ “ " “ 3 "
8 " had one pregnancy.

It should be noted that the 406 pregnancieswere not the only preg-
nancies recorded in the study. A few women had more than 8 pregnancies
but, owing to the discrepancies involved in coding and handling the
data, the rest of the pregnancies were not prOperly accounted for.
Therefore, for further analysis, I will use the 406 as the basis
for comparisons.

Table 23 shows that of the 406 total births, 24 were
aborted or miscarried. This, if calculated for 1,000 births,
will give a rate of 59.1 terminated pregnancies per 1,000 births.
Six stillbirths out Of 406 will be 14.775 per 1,000 births. Com-
bined still-births and terminated pr;§;.;EYZE’;r. 73.875 per
1,000 births. This rate is lower than Ardener's 112.15 combined
miscarriage and stillbirth rate per 1,000 birth recorded for
Bakweri women.1

But 73.875 per 1,000 pregnancies worked out for this study
is closer to the rates given for Fortes's Ashanti (Ghana) sample,
which was 74.76 per 1,000 pregnancies, and 62.79 per 1,000 for
Bahaya (Uganda)2.

It was not possible to Obtain separately the number Of

lArdener, Op, cit., p. 51.

2Ibid., p. 51.

62

children who died in infancy. Deaths of children were
recorded from 0-5 years Old. Sixty Children died under five
years Of age, making the rate 147.778 per 1,000. This is
lower than 473 per 1,000 of Children in the same age range
reported by Davey1 in his Ibadan lecture in 1958 and also
lower than the National Committee's figure (51 in every 100
have finished their lives at the end Of the fifth year)2
which works out to be 510 per thousand. It is realized that
Davey's figures came from Western Nigeria and were gathered
4 years before this study was made in 1962. Both location
and time could make a lot of difference in the mortality rates
in Africa. The same thing could be said Of the National Com-
mittee's figure which were ten years earlier, for much improve-
ment has taken place in all aSpects Of life in Nigeria since then.
Even though the figure Obtained in this study is much lower
than the two cited above, it is high when compared with the
25.2 range for England and Wales.3

From the pregnancy histories of some of the women, it
was possible to get the actual ages of first and last preg-
nancy. Table 24 shows time Of first and last pregnancies.

From data Of Table 24 it could be seen that many women

(71 out of 96) arrive at their non-productive periods between

 

the ages Ofd40¥45. )But it is also realized that many subjects

were not definite about their ages. Hence conclusions from

lDavey, Op. cit., p. 4.
2National Committee's Council Report, 921 cit., p. 4.

3Davey, OpI cit., p. 4.

Table

\\

Jonc
nest
fswe

kom
H

A
J.“

Mom

ate]
his

a:

U‘ .

Drag]

are .

tud'
time

peri

T

 

63

Table 24. Age of First and Last Pregnancies

T14.

 

 

 

 

‘Age Of First Pregnancy Age of Last Pregnancy

 

Unknown 19 Answers not available 19
(age informant unknown)

DO not remember or Questions not appli-
questions cannot be cable: informant still
answered 2 childbearing 21
From 8 to 10 years
old 3 Up to 40 years 50
From 11 to 13 " 3 41 to 45 " 3
" 14 to 16 “ 15 51 to 55 " 1
“ 17 to 20 “ 26 55 to 60 “ 2
21 years or Older 28

 

interpretation Of this table can only be done with care. However,
this age range seems to fall in line with M.G. Smith's finding
of 40-50 years as menopause period.l
ReSpondents' Opinions on the length Of time between
pregnancies and the actual time got from pregnancy histories
are recorded in Table 25.
A glance at Table 25 shows that most peOple in the
study carried out in practice their feelings Of the length Of

time that should lapse between pregnancies. The average

period between pregnancies approved by this group is 28 years.

1Smith, G.M., op, cit., p. 173.

—--— -._.__ fl~____, ___‘_,_ ___ _

 

 

64

Table 25. Opinions and Actual Time Between Pregnancies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Length of Time NO. Of Subjects, NO. Of Subjects
Between Opinion Actual Time
Pregnancies Pregnancies
Time lst 2nd 3rd 4th lst 2nd 3rd 4th
Not applicable 5 24 38 53 16 18 31 40
or no Opinion
0-9 months - - - - 1 1 2 2
10:12 months - — - — 4 7 3 2
13-18 months 8 5 4 3 2 - - 1
19-30 months 33 25 16 10 20 15 12 10
31-42 months 43 37 34 26 39 28 30 27
42 or more
months 7 5 4 4 4 6 7 2
Cannot remember - - - - 10 11 11 12
Summggy

l. The average number of peOple in the 96 households
involved in the study is 7.3 persons.

2. Of the total number Of 699 peOple recorded in the
whole study, 365 are estimated to be children under 14 years
Of age.

3. The average number of children per household is
estimated at 3.8. Not all children listed in the household
necessarily were born to the woman of the household.

4. It was estimated that 59.1 is the rate for term-
inated pregnancies per 1,000 births: 14.775 is the stillbirth
rate per 1,000 births. The death rate for children up to 5
years Of age is estimated 147.778 per 1,000 live births.

5. Two and half years is the average length of time

between the pregnancies of the women involved in the study.

PART V

DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Dipgssion
It is evident from the analysis of the data that the

Tannen of the Nigersity area have an estimated fertility rate

of 5415 Children per woman. This rate is 2% times as high as

u..--' ‘ a:

th—gj.0 rate given by the World'SocialaReport-Of—ht‘h-‘e United
Nations,1 for the develOped_countrig§ of the world. The
‘Werld Social Reporters Often associate fertility levels with
‘various indices Of the degree of social and economic develOp-
ment of a country. They assume that a rate higher than 2.0
indicates a lower level Of urbanization, average per capita
income, literacy rate of the population and mass media com-
munication. On the basis Of this, one could infer that the
high fertility rate in this study indicates that:

(a) Nigersity areas are largely rural.

(b) Per capita-insome-Of Nigersity area is low.
Although (a) and (b) are'nSEӤ2t tested empirically, the
researcher, through observation of the area and the peOple,
believes these Characteristics are true Of the Nigersity com-

munities.

(c) Literacy rate is low, this was substantiated in
this study where 65% Ofstheusample_pOpulation
were illiterates.

(d) Mass media communication is also low. This was
indicated in the first Nigersity study carried
out by N.W. Axinn.

 

1U.N. Report of the WOrld Social Situation, Op. cit.,
p. 17.

2Axinn, N.W., op, gig” p. 67.

65

66
Some points of interest arise when the high fertility
rate among the subjects is related to other significant find-
ings in the study. It is evident that the household size

(7.3 each) for the women involved in the study is relatively

large. In spite Of that, the majority Of the subjects

W

(81.2%) wished to have more children.

1f7625assnme on the basis of the high fertility rate
of this group that the economic level of the people in the
study is low, the question then arises how these families
will survive in fast-changing Nigeria. In a modern society,
a family's large number Of children no longer means more pro-
duction and wealth, but now means more consumption and
impoverishment Of the parents when the children are young.
The majority of Nigerians are still engaged in subsistence
agriculture, using crude tools, on land which is in many cases
less than an acre in size. From meagre incomes, they are ex-
pected to send their children to schools where they pay fees,
buy uniforms, books, and supplies. It seems to the researCher
that all the efforts Of the Nigerian government and univer-

sities to improve the social and economic situation of these

peoptelzill be fruitlessfiif nothing is doneabout themhigh
if“ F \LJH‘H .

fégfilityarate. .pi?
/ -

A change in people's attitudes concerning the desire-
_- -- -' "'"'M "hfluv ‘ "fl'x‘h‘x
ability Of large families is needed. The researCher fully

_—-———-—--—_.~_H

_.......p-—-

realizes that the task Of changing people's beliefs is a
difficult one, 'but not.,_ however, impossible. This requires

more investigation, done tactfully-and with understanding.

Juli—”-

It can then be fellowed up with education.

67
The “piggy-back“ (a system Of tagging an item Of Change

on what the society is craving for) has been known to be a
successful method for achieving change. EVSFX159911Y in
Nigeria now seems to realize the importance of education.
Parenfsflgo to any length to send their Children :6 school.
Education, then, can be the extension worker's tool for in-
troduéing this change. ‘

i The fact that the majority of the Christian women in
this studywere Catholic (33 Of the 53 Christians) may be a
factor in their attitude toward large families. The problems
related to birth control are under study by the church.
Official ChurCh policy, as well as community and university
efforts could affect this attitude.

It may be significant that most Of the women in this

study (84 Of the total 96) were from monogamous homes.
While most of them expressed the Opinion that there should be
'a span Of years between the births of children, the researCher
sees a rather impracticable situation where no scientific
knowledge about birth control is available. A long interval
between births can be understood in families where there are
many wives for the husband to Choose among, depending on
whether or not they are lactating or menstruating. But the ‘
researcher wonders hOw this long-time interval between births,

although ideal and practicable in the polygamous family system,

can fit in the system of one man, one wife.

68

The high percentage Of monogamous homes recorded in
this study raises other questions. (1) Does this indicate
that monogamywas a new trend in the Nigersity community? (2)
Could it be that the husbands of the subjects involved in
this study were so poor that they could not afford a second
wife? (3) Could it be that fundsvere now being used for the
education of the children rather than marrying more wives?

It is also possible that this group, selected from the
researCher's extension classes, included prOportionately
more monogamous families than the population as a whole con-
tains.

It could be assumed that monogamy is becoming fashion-
able because of the changes in the society's economic,
political and social structure. The woman, who is also the
trader and the farmer, needs to realize that being an only
wife in a household with all children of helpful age gone to
sChool and with very limited help from her husband, is heavy
work. If she is to produce many children under such condi-
tions, her health may suffer and her duties be performed in-
adequately.

A large ngmbers(8rt2%)w6f the wOmen‘said that many
Children willineither affect their healthnor their economic
situations. This indicates that many people in the study
were unawareo'fwthe heavy’demands children make on the wife's
health and On the economic resources of the family. This
limited knowledge Of human physiology and resource management
may be related to other major findings Of the sgpgy. Per-.
haps these contribute to the high rate of abortions, mis-
carriages, stillbirths and child mortality recorded in this

study.

 

 

 

 

69

Many questions concerning high mortality could be
related to other things, which though not included in this
study were observed by the researcher during the interview.
Appendix III (a) gives an account of a mother caring for a
siCk baby: Appendix III (b) describes sources Of water for a
mother with newbborn children; Appendix III (c) nutritional
needs and resources for children.

The researcher also made general Observations of the
peOple and living conditions as she visited their homes.
Appendix IV gives details Of these Observations Of the
physical facilities, such as water and housing, and food
availability and use. Photographs of some of the things
Observed are also included in AppendiprV.‘

One could surmise that the water sources - shallow
wells, rivers, streams and springs which are used for bath-
ing, laundry and even dumping refuse sometimes - are contam-
inated and contribute to the high death rate among the
children.

The ways foods are handled and processed both in the
markets and at home may also be a factor in the high death
rate.

The housing, with poor ventilation and sanitation,
may also contribute to thehealth hazards.

Any of these conditions listed above may affect the
health conditions of the children. Many Of the Children,
pictured in the Appendix on plates x, XI, and XII have the
protruding stomach which is associated/with 'kwashiorkor', a

protein deficiency in young Children.

70
IMPLICATIONS FOR EXTENSION PROGRAM:

The implications of the findings of this study for
an extension worker are many and challenging.

1. It is Obvious that extension education has a
Challenging Opportunity to promote literacy, since 65% Of
the study group did not read or write. This can be done in
many ways. One way is to teach basic literacy skills as
part of the subject matter lesson, i.e. reading numbers on a

I

tape measure, directions on a pattern, or ingredients in a
iffgfie:

2. The evidence that many mothers in the Nigersity
communities want large families, but do not seem to realize
the health and economic strain this involves, indicates to
one working in extension that there is need for educating
peOple both in family and economic planning.

3. Information from the review of literature has in-
dicated that the high rate of child mortality in Africa is
due to poor housing, contaminated drinking water, impure food
and a host of trOpical diseases peculiar to different areas.
The various Observations made by the researcher during the
interviews, recorded in Appendices III and IV, point out some
abnormalities in the general conditions of living in the
Nigersity communities. This indicates to the extension
worker that there is need for educating the peOple in-sanita-
tion about their homes, water and foods. Also, there is need
for nutrition education.

4. The research data indicate a lack of understand-

r—-—.~.

ing of the reproductive prOCeSs, and the health problems- in-

. “a. ‘I— H-h— —d-—-'---‘—""" -

volved in pregnancy and child pare. This should be taught to

//

71
adults as well as sChool children, so extension has a reapon-
fl‘H-“a

sibility to do this. The data also imply the difficulty in-

volved in getting information in these 'private' areas. An

 

——-. .——_--._—.—

understanding of cultural beliefs should give the extension
worker warning to move cautiously in some phases of his work.
5. If monogamous families are a growing trend,
teChniques Of work simplification and resource use will be
.Jpeeded'by these women.

w” __J The problem of educating masses of peOple is not a
simple one whiCh the extension worker can face without support
from other institutions. This requires the cOOperation of
the universities, government, other educational institutions,
the ChurChes, civic, professional, philanthropic and other
organizations of the community. The diagram on page 72

BhOWB'how my plan for improvement can be coordinated with

these various institutions.

Impligations for Furthe; Research

Many Of the problems encountered while analyzing the
data indicate the need for further research to be done with
an improved schedule. Some of the questions generated
hostility in the respondents, and this might well have
affected the responses, as in the pregnancy history. Some
questions were loosely framed and may have misled the reSpond~
ent, as the question on working while pregnant. It is doubt-
ful that the women interviewed interpreted 'working' as the
designers of the questionnaire intended. In other questions
the data would have been more meaningful if even more Specific

information had been gathered, as in size of family, total

72

 

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.mnwmson .Hmum3 “axed mnoHuwonoo mna>aa nH mewoonvoomnfi .MDHHMDHOE oawno

 

 

 

 

 

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mmfiuaaaumu Muensssoo .nofiumosom
moonuoz HmunmEQWATSTQ m0 maooa

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Oadoununmaasfl.nmnuo one Hmnoammouonm .mHOHHonoou mmmaaa> .mmmaflu momdAm> nonsso .mHoonum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mnoHumuanmmMO one Houumuan n0amnmuxm

 

 

 

  

 

   

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    
 

 

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ousuasofiuoc u m CH was ,IJW mumuumq one muse
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oasonoom ,mumaHMaoomm n m o mnmoaowz
one Tusuasuaum unmenuo>oo noflEOnoum Team
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mxuo
noHumuso . mmHaADoem.
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IDSOECHT>OG . - muamhmbanb

 

 

mxmmum ZOH94NHZ<QKO

——1afi

 

73
number of pregnancies, intervals between pregnancies. Some
Of the questions cosiifsfhlrss-99_irzi§is.£9usshimmeri-
ingful to the Nigersity women, i. e., a 24—month break in

r.-

interval, since that is the traditional length Of time be-

 

 

tween children.

The difficulties in the collection, handling and
coding Of the data indicate that some findings of the
research are far from reliable. Therefore, there is still
the need for more precise data. This requires more ex-
perienced and skillful researchers inflthemfieldSMOfwmaternal
and—Cfilld welfare in order that more reliable rates for
fertility and child mortality can be Obtained.

V'The significance of monogamous families in the study /‘
requiresrfurther investigation with a larger sample to know
whether’this is true Of the rest of the community, or
limited to this group selected from the researCher's exten-
sion class.”

Thailiving conditions of the peOple need to be in-
vestigated more completely. AS indicated by the researCher's
Observations, water, food and housing seemed of varying, and
generally low quality for the women in the Nigersity area who

were interviewed. Research in these areas will furnish in-

formation which will be useful in further improvement plans.

Spppagy
The essential problem in this study was to gather

information about the Nigersity community's fertility and
child mortality rates. This information is useful for home

economics extension programming and also as demographic and

74
benchmark knowledge for the university.

The study was interdepartmental, develOped by the
Sociology and Home Economics Departments of the University
of Nigeria. It was a non-random study, with a total of 96
subjects. The researcher collected the data herself. The
questionnaire was comprehensive and contained both direct
questions and Open-ended ones. Coding Of the data was not
done by the researcher. Analysis of the data was done in
simple prOportionS and percentages.

The major findings Of the study are:

1. More than half Of the study population could not

read or write.

/

,2. NO divorce was recorded. Only one of the 96
f” "’H -_ “fl—h- *_ h

was separated from her husband.
fff_,,. - -

v

3. Most families involved in the study were

.—
F...-

——-"f

monogamous (84 Of the 96 women.)

4. The average number Of people in the households

__._-—--"

interviewed was 7.3 persons.
5. Out of the total Of 699 persons estimated in

the families in the study, 365 were children under 15 years

L.»

r‘

Old.

V/# 6. An estimated 3.8 children were in each house-

hold, but not all children were born to the woman in the
study.

/

7. The majority Of the study pOpulation wished for

 

more childrenmthan—they had for“such reasons as fondness for

f"

Children, prestigeywsecurityiin Old age, wealth, and likely

loss of some of the children.

\_

75
8. Most subjects (81.2%) felt that having more
children would neither affect-their-health or economic
leyglsro-
9. Most subjects said that 19 months or more Should
elapse between births.

/W
10. It was estimated that 59.1 is the rate of

...___-.-_

 

~.-—-—-

terminated pregnancies per 1, 000 births: 14. 775 is the

f/1,
still -birth rate per 1, 000 births- 147. 778 is the death rate

for/Children up to 5 years Old.

/
///’ 11. For all children up to the age of 14 years
recorded in the study, the death rate is 210.95 per 1,000

live bl hS.

anclusion

One hesitates to draw conclusions from some Of the
findings of this study, due to the anomalies already
mentioned. However, on the basis of the estimated rates on
terminated pregnancies, still births and child mortality,
one can conclude that the Nigersity communities have prob-
lems in these areas. From my Observations, it is evident
that the Nigersity communities are rapidly moving into
modern life, with the establishment Of the University and
the general develOpment in the country. On the basis of
this study, however, one can conclude_Ehat the people's
attitude towards child bearing are influenced, to a large V
extent, by traditional beliefs and practices. _This#cuitural 7(

\‘_.._._____h_-—
lag is bound to produce more serious complications, both in

health and economic situations, if left unchecked.

76
The goal of furnishing information set out for in
this study is aChieved, and it is hoped that this is yet an-
other "small sand in a growing dune of knowledge.“L about the

jproblems of Nigerian families. It 19122229_ED§E_§8}§1Y3;1

KW

stimulate other investigations which will enhance the plan->gf
ning"of'extension programs by the extension worker with

additional information about the community's problems.

1Axinn, N.W. Op, cit., p. 98.

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80

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83

 

 

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APPENDIX II

AN INCIDENT DURING THE INTERVIEW

There were some occasions when dramatic events
develOped between the researcher and the respondents. The
following episode between the researcher and an elderly woman
probably in her fifties will illustrate the point. The
researcher had met this woman on many occasions during some
of her visits to the other women who lived in the same com-
pound. This old woman took a special interest in the
researcher. The researcher arranged for an interview, which
the woman accepted. The researcher went on the appointed
date. Our interview ended with this question "In your
Opinion, what is the best number of Children a woman should
have?" In the first place, the reSpondent did not see any
sense in the question. She asked whether it was people or
God who decided the number of children one had. The re-
searcher eXplained why she wanted her Opinion on this, and
how her eXperience and knowledge as an older person will help
the researcher and other people working in the University
build a University of our own. She calmed down a little bit
and explained that she hated to discuss children because Child-
ren hated her. Pushing the point further, a life history of
the woman develOped. It happened that this woman had had 17
pregnancies. Five of these were either aborted, stillborn,
or miscarried. Twelve others who were born alive were between

a month and two years old when they died. This started with

86

 

87
a distressful voice and broke into shouting crying and sobbing.
The researcher and the sChool teadher who accompanied her tried
for more than one hour to calm her down but could not. Her
cries and shouts attracted other members of the compound and
a large crowd formed in front of the woman's hut. After about
two hours pleading and sympathizing with the woman, the
researcher left the hut with the respondent still moody and

upset.

AAPPENDIX IIIA

A MOTHER CARING FOR SICK BABY

MrsI A.; Ibagwa Nkwo

Mrs. A.'s baby is about a year old. He was down with
a high fever which has reached a state of convulsion. The
mother had rubbed him with black soot, tied his wrists and
ankles with grass and hung a huge monkey head around his
neck. When the mother was asked why the baby was dressed in
this way, she explained that it helped to drive away the evil
Spirits which were bothering the baby.

Again when the mother was asked why she did not take
the baby to the hospital or health center, she said that the

fw-'""

distance (6*miles) to the health center is very far for her to

{-

....- n,

walk carrying the baby. There is no money to pay the
registration fee, and besides, the hospital peOple do not

’9‘-“

know how to cure this type of disease.

W
A MOTHER.HANDLING WATER PROBLEM
Mrs. B.; Enugu-Ezike

Mrs. B. had twins which were three weeks old the day
the health sister (W.H.O. Nurse) and I visited her home.
Four other women had come to visit Mrs. B. A discussion
about water was going on. Mrs. B.'s location is one of those
areas in Nsukka district where homemakers walk 5 to 6 miles
to fetch water. Each of these women had brought water to

88

89
Mrs. B., in amounts ranging from a pot of 4 gallons to cans
of l/2 gallon. The rainy season had Just begun and some
pots of water brought in for Mrs. B. were a light cream color
and must have been drawn from shallow wells. The health
sister inquired whether Mrs. B. boiled the water before giv—

ing it to the babies, and Mrs. B. answered ”sometimes.”

a“

~—-u.—. in_...,_ -

Mrs. B.'s twin boys had been circumcised at home.
The wounds had been covered with a grey greasy dressing prob-

ably prepared by a native doctor.

APPENDIX IIIC
A MOTHER FEEDING A BABY

MrsI Ci; Edemani
Mrs. C. was feeding her baby (about 5 months old)

with corn pap (light porridge of corn starch) when the
researCher walked in for an interview. A teaspoon of this
corn pap was poured down the baby's throat when it cried.

The researcher asked the mother what other foods
were given to the infant besides corn pap. She answered
that the baby ate only that until it was old enough (7
months or more) to eat adult foods. Adult foods are mostly
starchy roots, nuts, fruits, vegetables, with a little meat
and fish.

The mother was asked whether meat, fish, milk or
eggs were given to the baby and other 4 children who were be-
tween the ages of 2 and 12. She answered that she gives
some of these foods sometimes when she has them. But she

would not give them too much meat or fish, because they

90

might steal. She also said that they kept Chickens not to
eat their eggs but for production of more chickens. Also if
the family was in financial difficulties, the chickens or the
eggs could be sold. Besides, women were not supposed to eat
eggs, since this may lessen their chances of being produc—
tive. Her three children, who are girls, observed this taboo.

The researcher made inquiries from many other women
in the extension classes around the Nigersity communities,
and found that most of the women seemed to be practising the

same feeding customs and practices with their children.

APPENDIX IV

General Observations

gage; - Generally, water had been one of the greatest
problems for homemakers in the Nsukka area. Some homemakers
in the researCher's extension class eXplained that they used
to walk 10 to 16 miles to fetch water during the dry season
before 1960 when the government brought water to the Univer-
sity. Even then, many homemakers still walk distances rang-
ing from one to at least 5 miles to their nearest water supply.

Water sources in Nigersity vary. Water is fetched
from the rivers, streams, springs, deep or shallow wells and
village taps. Plate I shows a deep well in a viIlage center,
Plate II a village tap near a market place, and Plate‘III a
Spring hole on the lepe of a hill.

Carrying water from this spring which is about one
mile down the valleys of a steep hill is another hard task
that faces homemakers. Occasionally men help in carrying the
pots of water on bicycles and push them up hill. Plate IV
shows men helping in this task. ’

When conducting interviews, the researcher observed
where water is stored in the homes. Most homemakers stored
water in many clay pots of 2 to 8 gallons volume. These pots
were left behind the women's kitchens, under a shade tree and
very often circled around with a bamboo fence. Plate V shows
water storage in one of the homes visited.

91

92

Eggg - The general impression of the researcher is
that many peOple eat mainly starchy roots - yams,cocoa-yams
and cassava which are the staples Of the Eastern Region Of
Nigeria. Beans and all kinds of nuts, fruits and vegetables,
meat and fish form a little of their diets.

Food preparations and handling during the distribu-
tion were also observed. Food is generally prepared in the
kitchen over Open fires. Sometimes during the dry season
food is cooked outside the house. Grinding Of flour or
other ingredients is done on a stone placed on an elevated
mud platform outside the kitchen. Often these platforms are
left uncovered and domestic animals feed on the scraps drOpped
around the stone and lick the stone, too. Plate VI shows a
grinding stone on a raised mud platform.

Most foodstuffs are still diSplayed unwrapped in the
Open markets. Such foods as fresh or dried meat, fish, vege-
tables, fruits, etc. are handled and thrown around by differ-
ent buyers who Often examine the food, weigh them by lifting
them up, before they negotiate the price with the seller.
Plates VII and VIII show market places and women bargaining
for food.

Housing - Many houses in the Nigersity area are mud
thatched. Women usually have their individual huts which are
away from the big family house. These huts are usually one
room with adjoining storage Space where foodstuffs and per-
sonal belongings are kept. Sometimes chickens and domestic

animals share a part of these huts.

93

The huts in many cases did not have windows and there-
fore seemed not to have enough light in them. Many beds seen
were rows of bamboo tied together, and placed on an elevated
hollow'mud platform. Some beds had mats over them. Fire was
Often made under the bed, especially the first few weeks
after the women have had babies. The mother and baby shared
the bed. Plate IX shows one Of these bedrooms. Notice that
a baby's arm sticks out from behind the lady Spinning cotton.
Plates X, XI, and XII Show the outside of a hut, large concrete
family house and children of the compound standing in front
of them. Note the protruding bellies of the children in the

picture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books

Ardener, E. Divorce and Fertili_yj An African Study- Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1962.

Baldwin, A.L. (ed.) Report Of Institute on International

Education in Home Economics, Cornell University, 1958.
Carmichael, Olive C. Univ rsit of Commonwealth and America,
(New York, Harper and Brothers, 1959).

Davey, T.H. Disease and Population Pressure in the Tropics,
Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1958.

Leith-Ross, Sylvia. African WOmen: A Stud of the Ibo of
Nigeria (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1939).

Onyenuga, V.A. Our Needs and Resources in Food and Agricultgre,
Lagos: Federal Ministry of Information, 1959.

Ottenberg, P.V. Marriage Relationships: The Double Descent

System of the Afika-Ibo of South Eastern Nigeria,
University Microfilms Inc., Ann Arbor, London.

Sicault, Georges. The Needs Of Children, New York: The Free
Press Of Glencoe, 1963.

Smith, M.G. The Economy Of Hausa Communities Of Zaria, London:
Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1955.

Tate, M.T. and O. Glisson. Family Clothing, New York: John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1961.

Toverud, Stearns and Macy. Maternal Nutrition and Child
Health. An Interpretative Review, National Research
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A c1 3

Due, J.M. "Family Expenditure Studies in DevelOping Economics,
Part Is West Africa," Journal of Home EconomicsI
Vol. 56, No.3, Mar. 1964.

94

 

 

95

Due, J.M. “Family Expenditure Studies in DevelOping Economics,
Part II: East Africa and Rhodesia," Journal Of Home
Economics, Vol. 56: No.5, May 1964.

Strode, G.K. "Health Hints for the Tropics,“ The Americgp
S ciet of Medicine & Hygieng, Bethesda, Maryland,
March 1936.

White, R.B. “Food and Nutrition as Related to Health in an
Awakened Nigeria,” Journal of Home Economics, Vol.
56, No.9, Nov. 1964.

 

Repppps

Nigeria Federal Ministry of Information, Facts About Nigeria
1960 (Lagos, Federation of Nigeria Printing Office).

Report of the National Committee for the Defence of Children
on Nigeria Children in the British Colonies, (undated)
(London: Deauer Printers Ltd. (T.U.).

The University of Nigeria Calendar, Vol. I, No.3, l963-A (Report
of the University Of Nigeria PrOSpectus Committee).

United Nations, Economic and Social Council, Re rt on the
World Social Situation (E/CN.5/375, Rev.l ST7SOA/52,
1963) (New York, 1963).

United Nations, World Health Organization, Repprt Nos, 98I 105
and 114: 1959-61.

United Nations, World Health Organization Annual Re ort on
E idemiol ica Vital Statistics, Vol. 73, 52, 90
and 98) (Geneve, 1956-59).

United Nations, 1961 Demo ra hic Year Book, Vol. XIII, No.62)
(New York, 1961).

Uppuplished Materials

Ashby, Eric (Sir). Wind Of Change in African Higher Education,
An Address, mimeo, Freetown: Sierra Leone, Dec. 1961.

Axinn, N.W. "Homemaking Activities in Selected Eastern
Nigeria Household“ (unpublished Master's thesis,
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1963).

   

 

   

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