A 5 - YEAR AUTOPSY REVIEW OF MATERNAL MORTALITY AT OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITALS COMPLEX, ILE-IFE (JAN 2005 – DEC 2009)

Abstract

Background: Maternal mortality is a major health problem concentrated in resource
poor regions. Many studies on maternal death in Nigeria are purely clinical and do
not involve the use of autopsy. The aim of this study therefore is to collate and
examine the autopsy findings and anatomical diagnoses of maternal mortality at
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC)
Material and Method: A descriptive autopsy review of maternal deaths that
occurred between January 1st 2005 and December 31st 2009 at Department of Morbid
Anatomy and Forensic Medicine OAUTHC, Ile-Ife was done. Data for this study
were collated from the autopsy records, autopsy register and clinical notes with the aid
of an improvised Pro forma.
Results: Only 87 cases of maternal deaths (82.3%) met the criteria for this study.
Sixty-nine percent of the maternal deaths were due to direct causes while 31.0% were
as a result of indirect causes. The maternal age ranged from 15 to 45 years (mean=
27.9 years ± 7.5 SD). Obstetric haemorrhage was the leading cause of direct maternal
death (43.3%), with post-partum haemorrhage (65.0%) accounting for most of such
deaths. Other causes include abortion complications (33.3%) and complications of
labour (11.7%). A statistically significant relationship was found between the trimester
of pregnancy of the deceased women and direct maternal deaths (p < 0.001), as most
of the maternal deaths occurred in the third trimester. A significant difference was

found in the pattern of direct causes of death among different parity groups (p
<0.009). Non-genital infections (44.4%), anaemia (22.2%) and pre-existing
hypertension accounted for the leading indirect causes.
Conclusion: The leading causes of maternal death from this study were obstetric
haemorrhage, abortion complications and non-genital infections