Abstract
Context: Maternal deaths (MD), continue to be a global problem. For prevention it is essential that steps are taken from woman’s home to referral health facility because maternity journey is slippery. Women do slip, and disappear during pregnancy, birth and post birth. It is essential to know about danger points to prevent falls by providing quality care, during pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, birth, and post birth.
Objective: Analysis of information recorded in summaries of maternal death cases as part of surveillance for response.
Participants: Information in context of 54 women who died during maternity over last 10 years in a remote, forestry and hilly region in villages being served through nurse midwives (NM).
Methods: Analysis of information from death summaries which were being made after each death. Death summaries of maternal deaths over 10 yrs were analyzed.
Results: Severe anemia was major factor which contributed to many MDs, indirectly, as well as directly. It was also revealed that social perspectives mattered a lot.
Conclusion: There is need to understand reasons for not using or by-passing health facilities with essential services, transfers which sometimes are either delayed or not needed. Regular update of service providers seems to be essential for them to understand better what is visible, try to understand what existed, but is not visible and provide, timely appropriate services.
Keywords
Maternal deaths, Rural, Low resources, Causes, Social accountability, Perspectives