Pregnancy-related deaths drop

21 Jun, 2015 - 01:06 0 Views

The Sunday News

Tinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter
THE country’s maternal mortality ratio has dropped by an estimated 32 percent over the past seven years, although it remains significantly higher than the global average, latest data shows. Maternal mortality can be defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, regardless of the site or duration of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.

According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (Mics) conducted last year, Zimbabwe’s maternal mortality ratio stands at 614 deaths per every 100 000 live births, down from a ratio of 906 deaths per every 100 000 live births recorded in 2008.

The ratio is almost three times the global average of 287. Mics estimates also suggest a decrease in under-five mortality in the country between 2010 and 2014. The 2014 estimate stands at 75 deaths per 1 000 live births down from 94 deaths per 1 000 live births recorded in 2009. Zimbabwe has thus missed on Millennium Development Goal number 5 to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters to below 200 deaths per every 100 000 live births between 1990 and 2015.

Director of family health in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Bernard Madzima, while acknowledging the progress the country has made in reducing maternal mortality, said more work needed to be done to curb pregnancy-related deaths.

He attributed the decline in maternal mortality to a number of factors, among them efforts by Government to capacitate health personnel in pre and post-natal services as well as provision of such service at Government health institutions across the country.

“Latest data shows that our maternal mortality ratio has gone down but we are still not happy. According to the MDGs we should have reduced our maternal mortality rate to below 200 deaths per every 100 000 live births. We should have achieved that by now but because of the harsh economic conditions that we went through as a country our efforts were dragged.

“At some point we recorded as many as more than 1 000 deaths in a single year and that was bad,” he said.
On the factors leading to the decrease in pregnancy- related deaths, Dr Madzima said: “What as Government we have done is ensure that we address the three main delays that contribute to maternal deaths.

“The first delay pertains to women not knowing that they are supposed to book their pregnancies early at their nearest health facility to get antenatal care early. We are doing community awareness programmes, media campaigns and so on to encourage women to book early.

“The other delay results from accessibility of health facilities because of distance or money and we have addressed that by scrapping hospital user fees for pregnant women and providing waiting homes for expectant mothers who stay far from health institutions,” said Dr Madzima.

He added, “Thirdly we have dealt with the challenge of shortage of skilled personnel that can provide antenatal services. We have ensured that all our health institutions have skilled personnel and adequate facilities and equipment to cater for all forms of deliveries and complications.”

Dr Madzima said Government was targeting to end all preventable maternal deaths by 2030.
According to the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS) of 2010-2011 the leading direct causes of maternal deaths are pregnancy induced hypertension or eclampsia, postpartum haemorrhage, puerperal sepsis, malaria and obstructed labour.

The survey also showed that about two-thirds of births are assisted by a skilled medical provider, while 13 percent of the births are assisted by a traditional birth attendant and another 13 percent by untrained relatives and friends. Three percent are unassisted.

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