Maternal Mortality in a Rural Community of Ethiopia: The Case of Mafud District in Northern Shewa
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Date
1995-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Each n'ur hul( u millioll \I 'OII Ic' 1I £Ii ,' lr'Jm complicutioll.\ 0/ pregllullcT 011£1
childbirth and ab01ll 99 per cent of these demhs take place ill de\'eloping cOllntries.
Moreover, in these countries complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading
causes of dea[h among women of childbearing age. However, detailed s[udy on
maternal mortality is scarce in many of these developing countries and, if it exists, the
available estimates are only rough indicators of the magnitude of the problem. Similar
to other developing cOUiuries, in £Ihiopia, [here is 110 reliable illformaIion thai illdicaIes
the level, causes and correlates of maternal death for the country at large except few
studies conducted on the capital city, Addis Ababa, and one community based study in
some rural communities in fllubabor region, South-Western Ethiopia,
With these as a background, the thesis is mainly concerned with estimating the
level of maternal mortality in rural vii/ages of Mafod district in Northern Shewa region
(Il Ce IIlml £I h iopi" IIsing a cross -seCI iOllal call: ""OI.':l -based S 111 ,\,1'\ ' COndllCI I'd all -': - -I
eligible re"pondel1ls (persolls aged 15 y ears {II /,j ,Ii]o\'e}, !mer1'ie\l's \I ith key illformants
is also anolher SClfrce of illFormalioll for the ,!:,,11 .
The principal [echniqlle employed in t;I<' stlld\, is, the Sisterhood method. on
indirect techniqlle recently de\'eloped [0 estillhlfe illdicators of the le\'el of maternal
mOrlalityji'om ill/ormation on sllr1'/l'orship SIO IliS o/si'ters reachillg reprodllcti\'e ages.
III addilion. the stlld\' 1151'5 descripli\'e slalislics und qllali[at i1'e analn is to explaill lhe
r;,·k ./iJC{()rs ol molernal death.Thl' findings otlhe S/J"'" indiCille lIli!,' lilli,' ri lk o/lIIl1lem,i/ lIIorl<ilil1' <>1'0.-18-
ur I ill _1j \\"0111('1/. This approxim(llC!s a }Jill/ernul JIloria/it.' rate oj -_'5 nWlt!,.,lld deulh
per 100.000 lil'e birlhs. Although it is difficult to ascertain the correlates maternal
mortality from the available data, the background information on the study area suggest
Ihat risk faclOrs such as delivery before age 18 and over 3j, highfer/ifily, home delivery
with help of untrained traditional birth attendants, inaccessibility and lack of some
equipment in health facilities might have contributed to the observed high level maternal
marta iii)' in Ihe slUdy area.
The study concludes by indicating the need for expansion of family planning,
adequate training to traditional birth attendants, and strengthening the capacity of the
existing health facilities. Furthermore, a possible means of data collection on maternal
mortality and the need for further research particularly on causes and correlates of
maternal mortality are indicated.
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Keywords
Rural Community of Ethiopia