A dissertation submitted to the school of Public Administration and Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Health Systems Management (MHSM) of Mzumbe University
Background: The majorities of spontaneous pregnancy loss risk factors have been classified as environmental and vary from one place to another. This study aimed to explore the relationship between exposure to pesticides and spontaneous pregnancy loss among female working in farm in Mang‟ola basin in Karatu district, Arusha. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 102 women with spontaneous abortion and 99 women without this history were matched based on some factors were recruited. Cases and controls were recruited through the structured questionnaire during attending Reproductive Child Health clinic (RCH) and health care service. A written consent form was taken. Dependent and independent variables were experiencing spontaneous pregnancy loss and had been exposed to Mang‟ola Basin farms pesticides, respectively. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Odds ratio was also calculated to measure the level of risk for spontaneous pregnancy loss after exposing to Mang‟ola farms pesticides and 95% confidence interval was reported. Results: About 50.8% and 49.2% of mothers with and without spontaneous pregnancy loss had experienced working in Mang‟ola Basin farms during their pregnancy, respectively. There was a significant level of risk for mothers who had worked in Mang‟ola farms (during their pregnancy) to experience spontaneous pregnancy loss compared to those mothers who did not. Categorical variables showed that frequency to farm per week, number of pregnancies, number of years in occupation were significantly (OR=7.1, 95% CI 2.2564-29.2426, p<0.001; OR=4.4, 95%CI 2.3357-8.3451, p<0.001; OR=6.3, 95% CI 2.1767-22.0041, p<0.001 respectively) associated with spontaneous pregnancy loss. In addition, number of pregnancies was significantly (OR=2.6, 95%CI 1.1219-6.4120, p=0.015; OR=5.2, 95%CI1.0752-48.8232, p=0.021) associated with delivery of low birth weight and congenital abnormal new-borns respectively. Conclusion: Exposure to pesticides has been a major risk for causing spontaneous pregnancy loss among pregnant resident farmers in the area of this research.