Thursday 18th February, 2010

MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE

Maternal mortality rate is high in low developed countries and backstreet abortions are the
major contributors accounting for 700 out of every 100,000
Can be divided into;
Demographic Factors: Pairing number of births, age of the mother, spacing from one birth
to another, socio-economic status, occupation
Biomedical Factors: Hemorrhage, sepsis, obstructed labour, inadequate medical supplies,
the personnel carrying out the delivery, health facility availability, accessibility, attendance
of antenatal care and other diseases like HIV/AIDS and STIs
In Kenya, the maternal mortality rate stands at;
414

/100,000 live births

The rate is expressed as below;

MaternalMortalityRatio

Maternaldeathsin a year
x 100,000
Number of birthsthat year

Worldwide there are about 550,000 deaths and out of this, 90% are in developing countries
The expression for the rate is;

MaternalMortalityRate

Maternaldeathsin a year
x 100,000
Total numberof reproducti
ve women15 49 at mid year

In sub-Saharan Africa, women are 175 times more likely to die from complications in
pregnancy and children than their counterparts in developed countries. The deaths due to
abortion are as below;

1 in every 6 women who abort will die in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan
1 in every 7 in Angola and Malawi
1 in 6,000 in Japan
1 in 30,000 Sweden
1 in 2,500 in USA
1 in 8,700 in Canada
1 in 370 in Mexico
In Kenya the rate is 1 in 4.6

Causes by Rate
Cause specific rate e.g. due to Cancer is calculated as follows;

Cause specificrate

Cause (Cancer)
x 100,000
TotalMidyear Population

In the USA, there are around 175 deaths per 100,000 accrued due to cancer in a
given year

Cause specific ration is calculated as below;

Cause specificration

Cause (Cancer)
x 100,000
All deathsin a given year

In the year 2,000, 20% of deaths in the USA were due to cancer

Factors influencing mortality levels and trends

Demographic Factors

Parity
Education
Socio-economic status
Risk of death; Causes of adult death
Accidents
HIV/AIDS
Malaria
CVS disease
Diabetes
Emerging and re-emerging diseases e.g. Ebola, Swine Flu etc
Degenerative diseases; renal failure, Alzheimers, Parkinsons disease
Diseases influenced by social cultural factors; customs, tradition and nutrition
Environmental factors; climate, roater and drainage
Migration and immigration e.g. N.Eastern measles and polio, prevalent since
unimmunized individuals are moving and infecting others; this can be averted by
cross border surveillance and Integrated Surveillance Disease and Response (ISDR)
units for disease preparedness

Application of Mortality Data

For demographic study and public health administration

Research study in light of finding solutions
Evaluation of changes being implemented
Determination of administrative policy (CDC, WHO, UNICEF, FBO, NGOs etc)
Other professional and commercial activity (insurance companies)