Verbal autopsy: the vital tool to bridge the gaps between health care delivery system and maternal deaths

Abstract

In settings where the majority of deaths still occur at home and where civil registration systems do not function, there is little chance that deaths occurring away from health facilities will be recorded at all, let alone certifies as to the cause or cause of death. As a partial solution to this problem, verbal autopsy has become the primary source of information about causes of death in populations lacking vital registration and medical certification. As maternal deaths have still not reached the goal decided in MDG, we need to improve health services. Verbal Autopsy is an excellent tool to help finding the gaps between causes of maternal deaths, which can help greatly to find out the loop falls. Structured questionnaire was designed with the help of verbal autopsies for maternal deaths by WHO, to elicit information regarding the deceased and progress of her illness towards death. Prior consent was taken from the relatives of deceased. Cause of death according to verbal autopsy were puerperal sepsis and postpartum haemorrhage in case one and case two respectively. In areas where vital registration system is lacking or weak, verbal autopsies can provide a standard way to reach cause of maternal deaths.