Trends on Maternal Mortality in the Republic of Benin and Comparison with the Neighboring Countries

Muhammednazar Soyunov,Tatevik Zulumyan,Romeo Konnon,Said Semyatov,Zalina Sokhova

doi:10.18690/mls.13.2.197-216.2020

Muhammednazar Soyunov, Tatevik Zulumyan + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.18690/mls.13.2.197-216.2020

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Abstract

The maternal mortality ratio in the Republic of Benin in 2015 was still high – 405 per 100,000 live births. The delay in consultation and timely treatment, unavailability of medical facilities and lack of skilled care are the principal factors contributing to maternal deaths in Benin. Consequently, the rate of such preventable causes of maternal deaths like obstetric haemorrhage (38.40 percent and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (14.30 percent) remains high in the country, and even HIV continued being one of the indirect causes of maternal deaths in 2017 – one percent. High rate of complications associated with pregnancy and birth in adolescent girls is another cause of maternal deaths in the Republic of Benin. Despite the efforts of the Government aimed at improving health care, it is unlikely that we will achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3.1. – the reduction of maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.

Highlights

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “Maternal death (MD) is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes”
In the Republic of Benin, the existing legislative measures applied with the aim of reducing maternal deaths and adolescent pregnancies are insufficient both in terms of content and the lack of enforcement
The maternal mortality ratio remains high with a low average annual rate of reduction in maternal mortality ratio

Summary

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “Maternal death (MD) is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes”. Achieving the SDG 3.1 target of MMR below 70 MD per 100,000 lb by 2030 in the Republic of Benin requires reducing MMR by at least 6.34 percent (a total of 82.4 percent is required) every year between 2017 and 2030, and in turn, this requires increasing current average ARR by 2.26 times and more (WHOa, 2019: 99-104).

Results

Conclusion