Analysis on level and causes of maternal death in Ningxiang county from 1981 to 2005

Objective:To study the data of maternal death in Ningxiang county from 1981 to 2005,analyze the level and change regularity of maternal death in Ningxiang county,provide a scientific basis for improving the quality of maternal and child health and making better intervention measures of maternal death.Methods:An epidemiological retrospective survey analysis was used to collect the report cards of maternal death,case reports of maternal death and women and children health care annual reports of 240 dead pregnant women in Ningxiang county from 1981 to 2005;SPSS13.0 software was used for statistical description and related analysis.Results:The number of live births was 367 260,the maternal mortality was 65.35/100 000(240 cases),showing a gradual decreasing trend;the first three death causes were obstetric hemorrhage,hypertensive disorder complicating pregnancy(HDCP) and amniotic fluid embolism;the proportion of direct obstetric causes accounted for 88.8% of total deaths;obstetric hemorrhage was the first cause of maternal death at each stage;the places of maternal death changed obviously,the proportions of maternal death at home or on the way to hospital decreased gradually,the proportions of maternal death at township hospitals and hospitals at county level increased gradually;the number of maternal death adopting vaginal aid delivery decreased gradually,the proportion of cesarean section induced maternal death of total maternal death showed a increasing trend year by year;the maternal death centralized within 24 hours after delivery;the risk of perinatal infants of dead pregnant women was high.Conclusion:The maternal mortality shows a gradual decreasing trend from 1981 to 2005;the first three death causes are obstetric hemorrhage,HDCP and amniotic fluid embolism,which are coincidence with rank order of causes of maternal death in China;the proportion of obstetric hemorrhage decreases gradually,but obstetric hemorrhage is also the first cause of maternal death;the key measure of reducing maternal mortality is improving the rate of hospital delivery.