Causes of maternal mortality in four reference hospitals in Huambo Province from 2011 to 2013

• Autor(a) principal: Kahuli,Cezaltina Nanduva
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Nungulo,Victor Nhime, Ayres-de-Campos,Diogo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1646-58302018000400002
• topic: Maternal mortality; Sub-Saharan Africa; Hypertensive diseases of pregnancy; Obstetric hemorrhage; Sepsis

Aim: Maternal mortality is particularly frequent in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Angola is believed to have one of the highest rates in the world. The aim of this study was to identify the main causes of maternal deaths in the four reference hospitals of the Huambo Province, from 2011-2013. Methods: In this observational study, we analyzed maternal deaths recorded between 2011 and 2013, reviewing the clinical records and corresponding record books of the four main hospitals of the Huambo Province. Results: We identified a total of 164 maternal deaths. Almost 50% of women were between 15 and 24 years, 29.2% only had primary education, 48.1% resided in rural areas, and 39% were transferred from other health facilities. Data on previous pregnancies and deliveries, as well as on prenatal care were frequently missing. Most maternal deaths were from direct causes (77.4%), with hypertensive diseases accounting for 25%, sepsis for 23.1%, haemorrhage for 17.6%, and uterine rupture for 9.7%. Of the indirect causes, the most frequent were hepatitis, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Conclusions: Hypertension, sepsis and hemorrhage are leading causes of maternal deaths in the Huambo region. Poor quality of hospital and prenatal care records is frequent. These findings can help to guide strategies to reduce maternal mortality in the region.