Etiology of maternal deaths in a tertiary care hospital in Oman, over 27 years (1991-2017)

Abstract

Background:Maternal mortality was specifically targeted by the WHO Millennium
Development Goal 5 (MDG-5) which required reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR)
by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. Although maternal MMR has changed in the
Eastern Mediterranean Region, the trend of maternal deaths in the countries of the region is
important.
Methods:This was a retrospective chart review for 27 years. Data was collected from the
delivery ward register and Hospital Information System.
Results: There were 18 maternal deaths out of 62849 live births making the MMR 28.6 per
100,000. The direct causes were embolism and hemorrhage 3 for each, sepsis 2 and abortion
2. The indirect causes were sickle cell disease (n=2), cardiac lesions (n=2), retroviral infection
(n=1), and metastatic adenocarcinoma (n=1), Road traffic accident (n=1) and one with
unknown cause brought dead (n=1).
Conclusion: Indirect causes contributed to maternal death over 27 years, especially in second
half of the study period.
Keywords: Maternal mortality, Causes of death, Risk factors, Oman.