Maternal Death Reviews of a Tertiary Care Hospital

INTRODUCTION: All pregnant women are at risk of obstetrical complications which occurs during labor and delivery that lead to maternal death. Here to report a 10 year review of maternal mortality ratio in "Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital (PMWH) Thapathali Kathmandu, Nepal. METHODS: Medical records of 66 maternal deaths were reviewed to study the likely cause of each death over the study period. RESULTS: There were a total of 66 maternal deaths. While 192487 deliveries conducted over the 10 year period. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 356.64/100000 live birth. The highest MMR of 74.22/100,000 was observed in 2059 and lowest was 17.42/100,000 in 2068 B.S. Leading cause of MMR was remained hemorrhage accounting for 30.30% followed by eclampsia 24.24%. Sepsis, suspected cases of pulmonary embolism and amniotic fluid embolism each contributing 15.15%, 4.54% and 3.03% respectively. Where as anesthetic complication and abortion constitutes 6.06 % each equally for maternal death. The death noted in older women (30+year) were 36.36%. Primipara accounted for more deaths (51.51%). CONCLUSIONS: The fall in maternal mortality rate has been observed except for year 2063 BS. Hemorrhage is the main contributing cause behind maternal mortality.