Maternal deaths at kassala new hospital (eastern sudan)‎

Abstract AR

Objectives : Study of the maternal deaths that occurred at Kassala New Hospital in Eastern Sudan in 1997, in order to determine causes of death and contributing factors.

Method]s: A retrospective study.

Records of all maternal deaths during the one-year period were reviewed and analyzed.

Results : There were 34 maternal death during 1997(the hospital maternal mortality ratio was found to be 2119 per 100,000 live births).

Nineteen cases (55.9%) were directly due to obstetrical causes.

Fifteen (44.1%) involved non-obstetrical complications.

Puerperal sepsis was found to be the leading obstetrical cause of death, responsible for 31.6% of obstetrical causes and 17.6% of all maternal deaths.

Complications of malaria were the most important non-obstetrical cause, responsible for 46.7% of non-obstetrical mortality and 20.6% overall of maternal deaths.

The most important contributing factors were delay in seeking care (in 88.2% of cases), failure in the referral system (85.4% of cases), and failure to receive optimum care in the index hospital (11.8% of cases).

Conclusions : The maternal mortality rate was very high with malaria the major non-obstetrical cause.

Other factors included delay in seeking care and lack of appropriate emergency facilities and referral procedures in the rural hospitals.

Poverty in this region plays a major role in under utilization of the available services.