Abstract
Introduction: Our objective was to compare the epidemiologic profile of maternal mortality in two structures serving as referral levels of care in Cameroon. Methodology: This cross-sectional, comparative study took place at the maternities of the Yaounde Central Hospital (YCH) and the Bamenda Regional Hospital (BRH) from December 1st 2014 to May 31st 2015, a 6 months’ period. The medical records of deceased women over 5 years, from January 2010 to December 2014, were collected. We calculated the MMR (Maternal mortality rate) and studied the causes and risk factors associated with maternal death. The Epi info software 3.5.4 was used to analyze data with a significance level of P < 0.05. Results: The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 964 and 247 per 100,000 live births for YCH and BRH, respectively. More deaths occurred within the aged group range 20 to 34 years, 76.8% at YCH and 64.7% at BRH. At YCH, 70.7% of these patients were referrals versus 32.4% at BRH. Complication from abortion was often implicated at BRH (P = 0.007; OR = 0.31; CI = 0.13 - 0.74). Others causes were hemorrhage (YCH = 43.4%; BRH = 35.5%), hypertensive diseases (YCH = 17.2%; BRH = 14.7%) and infections (YCH = 8.1%; BRH = 17.6%). At YCH time elapsed from admission to death was <3 h (P = 0.005; OR = 6.63; CI = 1.49 - 29.5). Conclusion: Both hospitals have similar causes of maternal deaths, differing only in the context within which the deaths occurred. Improving access to good quality health care, satisfying unmet needs for family planning, availability of blood products and the establishment of health insurance could decrease the maternal mortality rate.
Highlights
Our objective was to compare the epidemiologic profile of maternal mortality in two structures serving as referral levels of care in Cameroon
During the period of study, 173 maternal deaths and 17 943 live births were registered at the Yaoundé Central Hospital (YCH), giving a maternal mortality ratio of 964/100 000 live births
During the same period 41 maternal deaths and 16 596 live births were reported at the Bamenda Regional Hospital (BRH), giving a maternal mortality ratio of 247/100 000 live births (Table 1)
Summary
Methodology: This cross-sectional, comparative study took place at the maternities of the Yaoundé Central Hospital (YCH) and the Bamenda Regional Hospital (BRH) from December 1st 2014 to May 31st 2015, a 6 months’ period. We calculated the MMR (Maternal mortality rate) and studied the causes and risk factors associated with maternal death. Results: The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 964 and 247 per 100,000 live births for YCH and BRH, respectively. More deaths occurred within the aged group range 20 to 34 years, 76.8% at YCH and 64.7% at BRH. According to WHO [1], 830 women die each day from preventable causes associated with pregnancy and delivery, and 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries. The maternal mortality ratio is 16 per 100,000 and 230 per 100,000 live births in industrialized and developing countries, respectively [2]. Sub-Sahara Africa has the world’s highest maternal mortality rate at 510 deaths per 100,000 live births [2]
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