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Maternal death cases in the top referral hospital in Cambodia
Author(s) -
Koum Kanal,
Tiv Say,
Sann Chan Soeung,
Matsui Mitsuaki,
Obara Hiromi,
Kudo Yoshiko,
Fujita Noriko
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1046/j.1341-8076.2002.00004.x
Subject(s) - medicine , referral , attendance , residence , maternal death , emergency medicine , medical emergency , family medicine , population , environmental health , demography , sociology , economics , economic growth
Objective: To analyze maternal death cases and their risk factors at the top referral hospital in Cambodia in order to develop appropriate strategies to reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in Cambodia. Methods: A total of 47 maternal deaths among 6089 delivery cases were analyzed retrospectively through patient documents. Results: The MMR in the top referral hospital was 785 per 100 000 live births. Three main direct causes of maternal mortality were hemorrhage, infection and hypertensive disorders. Risk factors for maternal death were age (older than 35 years), parity (four or more), no antenatal care attendance and residence in the provinces. The major characteristic of cases of maternal death was delayed arrival at the referral hospital. Conclusions: Necessary strategies to reduce MMR are: (i) to avoid delayed arrival at the referral hospital (i.e. health promotion for awareness in the community, risk detection and early transfer by skilled personnel after competency based training); and (ii) provision of adequate health‐care facilities in the country with human resources and materials, including blood transfusion.