Trends of maternal mortality in Nineveh (2004-2013)‎ : a time series analysis

Abstract EN

Context: Maternal Mortality is a worldwide issue that serves as a visible health indicator of a nation’s health care system.

As part of the 5th Millennium Development Goal, the UN established the target of reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015 for all national and regional populations.

Aim: Determine the trend of maternal mortality in Nineveh for 10 year period (2004-2013).

Subjects and methods Study design: Descriptive biometric study design.

Study settings: Nineveh Governorate/North of Iraq.

Study sample: Maternal deaths, women at childbearing age, and live births from 2004 to 2013.

Data collection tool: Death certificates, vital registration system.

Outcome measures: Maternal mortality rate, ratio, and life time risk of maternal death, stages of maternal mortality, in addition to their mortality causes and trends by using various rates, ratios, proportions, and Chi-squared test for trend.

Results: Maternal mortality ratio changed significantly (p=0.002) during the study period being worst in 2007 (45.01/100,000 live birth).

On average, about 1:666 women at childbearing age died either due to direct causes predominated by hemorrhage or indirect ones mainly CVDs.

Conclusions and Recommendations: Maternal mortality still a major problem that should be addressed carefully through facilitating women's accessibility to maternity services to save their lives.