OBJECTIVE Data on maternal mortality varies by region and data source. Accurate local-level data are essential to appreciate its burden. This study uses autopsy results to assess maternal mortality causes in southern Ghana. METHODS Autopsy log books of the Department of Pathology, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Mortuary were reviewed from 2004 through 2008 for pregnancy related deaths. Data were ...

methods _or wn, and preventing our mater­know­ the standard nal ledge of deaths such are hazards well knolity inceais ses, continue but unfortu­d.ay, nately obstetric morta although is expected to be rare. the most common causes of obstetric deaths are:  1- Haemorrhage 2- Infection 3- Anaesthesia 4-Toxaemia 5-The supine hypotensive syndrome 6- Aspiration of Stomach contents in to the...

OBJECTIVE To examine physician-documented indications for cesarean delivery in order to investigate the specific factors contributing to the increasing cesarean delivery rate. METHODS We analyzed rates of primary and repeat cesarean delivery, including indications for the procedure, among 32,443 live births at a major academic hospital between 2003 and 2009. Time trends for each indication we...

BACKGROUND Data pertaining to risk factors associated with stillbirths and very low Apgar scores is very sparse. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of, and examine the socio-demographic and obstetric factors associated with stillbirths and very low Apgar scores among vaginal births in a tertiary health facility, Ghana. METHODS A retrospective cross-sectional review of vagina...

PURPOSE To describe the prevalence of maternal mortality at a tertiary care hospital and to assess its preventability. METHODS This study, through the analysis of maternal deaths that occurred during the period from 1999 to 2010 at a reference in Campinas--Brazil, CAISM/ UNICAMP, discusses some of the factors associated with the main causes of death and some structural problems of structure o...

The necessity for critical care support and admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) is a relatively infrequent occurrence during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The exact incidence is unclear because of the variety of reporting methods and definitions, with estimates that range from 0.17% to 1.1% of pregnant patients. All of the published series to date are small; the largest series incl...

PURPOSE To examine obstetric outcomes in the second birth of women who had undergone a previous cesarean delivery. METHODS This was a large hospital-based retrospective cohort study. We included pregnant women who had a previous delivery (vaginal or cesarean) attending their second birth from 2001 to 2009. Main inclusion criteria were singleton pregnancies and delivery between a gestation of ...

IT is important to understand the influence of obstetric complications on the neurological development of the infant and young child since the future planning of preventive and social paediatric services will depend largely on the clarification of this issue. Since Little (1861) wrote about the influence of abnormal parturition, difficult labour, premature birth and asphyxia neonatorum on the m...

BACKGROUND Maternal mortality is related to obstetric complications in pregnancy some of which could be revealed by obstetric sonography. Obstetric sonography has become part of routine antenatal care in both urban and rural settings. The objective of the study was to assess the utilization of obstetric sonography in a rural hospital of Uganda, including the frequency and appropriateness of its...