Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Infertile Women on Child Adoption in Douala (Cameroon)

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices on child adoption among infertile women in Douala (Cameroon). Methods: It was a prospective descriptive study of six months duration at the General Hospital and the Dawn Medical Foundation Clinic. Patients of the gynecologic unit presenting with infertility were included. A questioner was administer to each patient with the following variables: Age, marital status, profession, level of education, past gynecologic history, number of children, type and the duration of infertility. Their knowledge, attitude and practice toward child adoption were investigated. Data collected was analyzed using the statistical software EPI-INFO 6.04 and R. p value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Among the 300 women included, 269 (89.7%) had already heard about adoption, 62.1% through the media. Seventeen percent knew who to meet in order to adopt a child in Cameroon. Two hundred and thirty patients (76.7%) were in favor of adoption but 48.7% of them didn’t want to adopt a child. One percent of patient had adopted a child. The attitude towards adoption was significantly influenced by the duration of infertility of more than 10 years (p = 0.0014). Among women who have at least one child 9.4% wanted adoption against 21.4% who did not want adoption (p = 0.0305). Among women aged between 25 and 30 years, 28.2% wanted to adopt a child against 79.1% who did not want it (p = 0.000). Eighty five percent of women who had secondary infertility did not want to adopt against 44.7% who wanted it (p = 0.0003). Conclusion: The level of knowledge is high in educated patient. However, many women don’t know the right procedure and the structures in charge of adoption. Their attitude is favorable but the practice of adoption remains low.

Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Malformations in Douala General Hospital

To determine the prevalence of congenital malformations and the proportion of cases diagnosed before birth;to specify this proportion according to the type of malformation and the sonographer qualification. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study carried out at the Douala General Hospital in the obstetric and neonatal units over a period of 42 months, from January 2008 to June 2012. The procedure consisted of;firstly an explanation of the study purpose with consent of parents obtained, thereafter, the parents were interviewed and data extracted from their files. The new born had a complete clinical exam. Morphological and biological assessment were done to ascertain diagnosis if needed. They were then followed up for 48 hours. Data were analysed using SPSS. Statistical analyses were mainly descriptive: mean, median, mode and frequency were calculated. Results: During this period, 6048 neonates were examined, 99 of whom had a malformation giving a prevalence of 1.64%. Musculoskeletal defects were the most common (36.4%), followed by digestive tract defects (22.2%). Ultrasounds were carried out mainly in the second term. Among the malformed babies, only 16.2% were diagnosed during the prenatal period. The obstetricians did better than radiologist in the prenatal diagnosis of congenital malformations. All the urinary tract malformations and 33.3% of the polymalformations were diagnosed by prenatal echography. Among the malformed babies, 33% died within the first 48 hours of life and poly-malformed babies were more concerned (66.7%). Conclusion: The prevalence of congenital birth defect was 1.64%. The rate of prenatal diagnosis remained low, meanwhile one third of the affected babies die after births. An early diagnosis would anticipate on medical care at birth and allow therapeutics abortions when indicated.