MATERNAL MORTALITY: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY IN A TERTIARY CENTRE

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:Maternal death is a preventable tragedy.The aim of this study is to analyze the causes of maternal mortality in a tertiary centre.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted by reviewing the records for maternal deaths over the period of one year 1-08-2013 to 31-07-2014 in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Guntur Medical College, Guntur.Every maternal death was scrutinized for various aspects likely to be related to death such as age, locality of residence, antenatal care, admission death interval and the cause of death.RESULTS: The maternal mortality in the present study is 788/ 1 lakh live births.There were 62 maternal deaths in the study period.Most deaths occurred in the 20-25 age group.51.6% of deaths occurred in the first seventy two hours after admission.Hypertensive disorders (25.80%) and hemorrhage (12.5%) are the two most common direct causes of maternal death.Post-operative and post abortal sepsis, amniotic fluid embolism, pulmonary embolism and peripartum cardiomyopathy are the other direct causes.Indirect causes of maternal deaths were seen in 34.9% of the cases.Hepatitis (9.64%), severe anemia is the two leading indirect causes of maternal deaths.CONCLUSION: Most of the maternal deaths can be prevented if the high risk antenatal women are identified earlier and referred to the tertiary centre earlier for diagnosis and management KEYWORDS: Maternal mortality, Hemorrhage, Hypertensive disorders.