Prevalence and Risk Factors for Maternal Mortality at a Tertiary Care Centre in Eastern Nepal- Retrospective Cross Sectional Study

Background: Maternal mortality ratio is an important public health indicator that reflects the quality of health care services. The prevalence is still high in developing countries than in the developed countries. This study aimed to determine the MMR and to identify the various risk factors and causes of maternal mortality. Methods: : This is a retrospective study conducted in a tertiary care center of Eastern Nepal from 16 th July,2015 to 15 th July 2020. Maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live-births over 5 years of study period was calculated. The causes of death, delays of maternal mortality and different sociodemographic profiles were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: : There were total of 55,667 deliveries conducted during the study period. The calculated maternal mortality ratio is 129.34 per 100,000 live-births in year 2015 to 2020. The mean age and gestational age of women having maternal deaths were 24.69 ±5.99 years and 36.15± 4.38 weeks of gestation respectively. The common causes of maternal deaths were obstetric hemorrhage, hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and sepsis. The leading contributory factors to the death were delay in seeking health care and delay in reaching health care facility (type I delay:40.84%). Conclusions: : Despite the availability of comprehensive emergency obstetric care at our center, maternal mortality is still high and almost 75% of deaths were avoidable. The leading contributory factors were due to delay in seeking care and delayed referral from other health facilities. Contributory factors related to maternal mortality are preventable through combined safe motherhood strategies, prompt referral, active management of labor and puerperium.