Resumo

CACERES-MANRIQUE, Flor de María  e  DIAZ-MARTINEZ, Luis Alfonso. Maternal mortality at the Ramón González Valencia Teaching Hospital 1994-2004. Rev Colomb Obstet Ginecol [online]. 2007, vol.58, n.2, pp.99-107. ISSN 0034-7434.

Objective. Describing maternal mortality (MM) occurring over an eleven-year period at a third-level teaching hospital. Methodology: a prospective study based on surveillance system data. A committee of experts analysed each death to define causes, how they could have been avoided and determinant factors. The mortality ratio was calculated, as were frequency, central trends and variability. Results: 121 MM have occurred since 1994 to2004. Annual mortality ratio was 134 to 361 per 100,000 live births (average 255). Average maternal age was 26.8 years and average pregnancy lasted 29.6 weeks. Only 47 (38.8%) of the mothers had prenatal medical care; MM 91 (75.2%) were due to direct causes. The main causes of MM were pregnancy-associated hypertensive disorders (26.5%), sepsis (26.5%) and haemorrhage (18.9%). 113 MM (93.4%) were deemed to have been avoidable. Discussion: MM ratio was above that for population findings, having similar figures to those found in other Colombian hospitals during past decades. The findings were similar to other reports regarding the ratio of the cause of direct MM, determinants, females’ age and possibility of death being avoided. New methods should be adopted for analysing MM data, improving quality and adhering to prenatal care; other test strategies should be evaluated for preventing MM.

Palavras-chave : maternal mortality; surveillance in public health; preventable mortality.

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