Stillbirths in Kano

A feasibility study of stillbirths in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

Watch a video about the Stillbirth Feasibility Study

Background

A collection of small research studies investigating factors associated with stillbirths and the incidence of stillbirth. These works were carried out in a tertiary hospital in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

Stillbirths were previously not recorded as either birth or a death in this hospital and this was highlighted by a research nurse from a different research study. The research team in Cardiff University and the research team in Kano got together and set up a rapid study to see how frequently this was happening.

Feasibility study design

We used several methods to try and build as comprehensive a picture as possible of the problem of the area. We collected samples and data from mothers and babies and were successful in identifying several factors which are associated with stillbirth. We also found that the incidence of stillbirth in this hospital is 104/1000 births compared to 3.8/1000 in UK and 43/1000 births across other parts of Nigeria.

As part of the feasibility study, we carried out focus groups with mothers, half of who had previously experienced a stillbirth and half who had not to gather their thoughts and perceptions on stillbirth and barriers to accessing healthcare.

Related publications

Qualitative research:

Rebecca Milton, Fatima Ibrahim Alkali, Aisha Sani Mukaddas, Aishatu Kassim, Fatima Habib Sa’ad, Fatima Muhammad Tukur, Dr. Zara Isa Modibbo, Bethan Pell, Julia Sanders, Peter Ghazal, Kerry Hood, Kenneth Iregbu ‘A qualitative focus group study concerning perceptions and experiences of Nigerian mothers on stillbirths’ BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 21, 830 (2021).

Preliminary quantitative research:

Milton R, Modibbo Z, Watkins WJ, Gillespie D, Alkali FI,  Bello M, Habib Sa’ad F, Hood K, Iregbu K, Kassim A, Khalid R, Muhammad M, Mukaddas A, Ogudo E, Tukur F, Walsh TR. ‘Determinants of stillbirth from two observational studies investigating deliveries in Kano, Nigeria’ Front. Glob. Women’s Health (2022)

The feasibility study and the dissemination study were funded by seed funding from Cardiff University’s GCRF QR funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.

Funding breakdown:

• Feasibility study funding (£35,000)
• Dissemination study (£9,700) This ran from February 2020 – December 2020
• Preliminary works (unfunded)