article · Frontiers in Global Women s Health
Snakebite envenoming during pregnancy poses complex risks to both mother and unborn child, yet data on outcomes in resource-poor regions remains scarce. A retrospective study examined medical records from 2019 to 2024 at the Snakebite Treatment and Research Hospital in Kaltungo, Northeastern Nigeria, identifying 77 pregnant women admitted for snakebites. The median age of patients was 26 years, and over 90 percent had no formal education. Nearly all patients visited a traditional healer prior to presenting at the hospital. All 77 women recovered from the snakebites. Among two women who gave birth before discharge, one delivery resulted in a neonatal death following spontaneous vaginal delivery, while the other delivered successfully via caesarean section with both mother and infant surviving. The findings highlight the need for tailored clinical protocols, antenatal education, and collaboration with traditional healers.
Pregnant women in low-resource settings face compounded vulnerabilities from neglected tropical diseases such as snakebites. High delays in hospital presentation often stem from reliance on traditional healers and limited formal education. Understanding clinical outcomes and healthcare-seeking pathways helps health systems design targeted antenatal educational programmes, improve rural referral networks, and develop dedicated treatment protocols that safeguard both maternal and foetal health.
The abstract does not indicate a commercial application pathway, as the findings focus on public health interventions, clinical management guidelines, and referral network improvements.
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Introduction Pregnant women with neglected tropical diseases like snakebites are considered doubly neglected due to the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities, including compounded challenges stemming from socio-economic marginalization, inadequate healthcare access and most importantly, the lack of targeted public health interventions. Despite these concerns, there is a substantial gap in the literature regarding the presentation, management and outcomes of snakebites among pregnant women, especially in low-resource settings like northeastern Nigeria. Methods Consequently, a retrospective observational study was conducted at the Snakebite Treatment and Research Hospital (SBTRH) in Kaltungo, Northeastern Nigeria. Six years of patient folders were searched to identify patients of all ages that were pregnant at the time of presentation. Results Between 2019 and 2024, 77 pregnant women presented to SBTRH with snakebites. The median age among pregnant women presenting with snakebite was 26 [interquartile range (IQR) 20–30], and most had not completed any level of education (n = 70, 91%). On average, patients were not experiencing their first pregnancy (median gravidity 3, IQR 1–5), and the median gestational age at admission was 22 weeks (IQR 16–28 weeks). Most patients (n = 73, 95%) visited a traditional healer prior to arriving at SBTRH. All patients recovered from snakebite. Of the two women that gave birth prior to discharge, one underwent spontaneous vaginal delivery followed by neonatal death, and one underwent caesarean section, where both mother and child survived. Discussion These findings underscore the urgent need to recognize and respond to the unique vulnerabilities of pregnant women affected by snakebite in northeastern Nigeria. There is a need to integrate snakebite education during antenatal care period, engaging traditional healers in referral networks, developing pregnancy-specific clinical protocols and strengthening surveillance systems to capture maternal and foetal outcomes comprehensively.
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DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1655068
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