Maternal Mortality in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A 10-year Review

Background: epidemiological data pertaining to maternalmortality is valuable in each set up to design interventionalprograms to favourably reduce the ratio. this study was done toevaluate the maternal mortality rate in our hospital, to assess theepidemiological aspects and causes of maternal mortality, and tosuggest recommendations for improvement.methods: this was a 10 year retrospective study. epidemiologicaldata was collected from the hospital register and maternal mortalityratio, epidemiological factors and causes affecting maternalmortality were assessed.results: a total of 120 maternal deaths occurred. most maternaldeaths occurred in the age group of 20–24 years, multiparouswomen (56.66%), women from rural areas (69.16%), illiteratewomen (65%), unbooked patients (83.33%), and patients of lowsocioeconomic status (83.33%). direct causes accounted for 72.5%of maternal deaths where as 27.5% of maternal deaths were dueto indirect causes.conclusion: there is a wide scope for improvement as a largeproportion of the observed deaths are preventable.