Prevalence and risk factors for maternal mortality at a tertiary care centre in Eastern Nepal- retrospective cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND

The maternal mortality ratio is a significant public health indicator that reflects the quality of health care services. The prevalence is still high in developing countries than in the developed countries. This study aimed to determine the MMR and identify the various risk factors and causes of maternal mortality.

METHODS

This is a retrospective study conducted in a tertiary care center in Eastern Nepal from 16

RESULTS

There was a total of 55,667 deliveries conducted during the study period. The calculated maternal mortality ratio is 129.34 per 100,000 live-births in the year 2015 to 2020. The mean age and gestational age of women with maternal deaths were 24.69 ± 5.99 years and 36.15 ± 4.38 weeks of gestation. Obstetric hemorrhage, hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and sepsis were the leading causes of maternal death. The prime contributory factors were delay in seeking health care and reaching health care facility (type I delay:40.9%).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the availability of comprehensive emergency obstetric care at our center, maternal mortality is still high and almost 75% of deaths were avoidable. The leading contributory factors of maternal mortality are delay in seeking care and delayed referral from other health facilities. The avoidable causes of maternal mortality are preventable through combined safe motherhood strategies, prompt referral, active management of labor and, puerperium.