INTRODUCTION Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world as well as high perinatal mortality. Unfortunately, the country does not have the resources to assess this critical indicator with the conventional health information system and measuring its progress toward the goal of ending preventable maternal deaths is almost impossible. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) conduc...

BACKGROUND In 2000, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set targets for reducing child mortality and improving maternal health by 2015. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the results of a new education and referral system for antenatal/intrapartum care as a strategy to reduce the rates of Cesarean sections (C-sections) and maternal/perinatal mortality. METHODS DESIGN Cross-sectional study. ...

Gender inequality varies across nations, where such inequality is defined as the disproportionate representation of one sex over the other in desirable social, economic, and biological roles (typically male over female). Thus in Norway, 40% of parliamentarians are women, in the USA 17%, and in Saudi Arabia 0%. Some of this variation is associated with economic prosperity but there is evidence t...

BACKGROUND Maternal mortality is high in Mali. Nevertheless, there are few studies on this topic from rural areas, and current estimates are mostly based on studies from urban settings. Our objective was to estimate the maternal mortality ratio in Kita, rural Mali. METHODS Using the "sisterhood method", we interviewed participants aged 15-50 years from 20 villages in Kita, Mali, and thereby c...

OBJECTIVE To examine determinants of maternal mortality and assess the effect of programmes aimed at increasing the number of births attended by health professionals in two districts in West Java, Indonesia. METHODS We used informant networks to characterize all maternal deaths, and a capture-recapture method to estimate the total number of maternal deaths. Through a survey of recent births w...

BACKGROUND MMR has always been recognized as an important indicator of quality of health services. The MMR in India has so far not reached up to the required MDG 2015. If we look into this matter with the eagle's eye view, then there are certain gray areas which need attention. For this, it is not the maternal mortality but the maternal near miss which has to be focused. OBJECTIVES To audit t...

Background: Maternal mortality estimation is difficult in developing countries that have no complete vital registration. The indirect sisterhood method represents an alternative in places where there is high fertility and high mortality. The objective of our study was to estimate maternal mortality indices by the sisterhood method in a rural district in southwest Ethiopia. Method: We interviewe...

BACKGROUND Estimation of maternal mortality is difficult in developing countries without complete vital registration. The indirect sisterhood method represents an alternative in places where there is high fertility and mortality rates. The objective of the current study was to estimate maternal mortality indices using the sisterhood method in a rural district in south-west Ethiopia. METHOD We...

Background: Maternal mortality in India continues to be unacceptably high. This study was done to evaluate the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in our hospital, to assess the epidemiological aspects and causes of maternal mortality, and to suggest recommendations for improvement. Methods: This study was a 10 year retrospective study from year 2007 to 2016. Data was collected from the hospital rec...