Methods used to measure maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1980 to 2020: A systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND: Gobally, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the largest maternal mortality burden, but the region lacks accurate data. OBJECTIVE: To review methods historically used to measure maternal mortality in SSA to inform future study methods. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched databases: PubMed, Medline, WorldCat and CINHAL, using keywords "maternal mortality," "pregnancy-related death," "reproductive age mortality," "ratio," "rate," and "risk," using Boolean operators "OR" and "AND" to combine the search terms. SELECTION CRITERIA: We searched for empirical and analytical studies that: (1) measured maternal mortality levels, (2) were in SSA, (3) reported original results, and (4) were not duplicate studies. We included studies published in English since 1980. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We screened the studies using titles and abstracts, reading the full text of selected studies. We analyzed the estimates and strengths, and limitations of the methods. MAIN RESULTS: We identified 96 studies that used nine methods: demographic surveillance (n = 4), health record reviews (n = 18), confidential enquiries and maternal death surveillance and response (n = 7), prospective cohort (n = 9), reproductive age mortality survey (RAMOS) (n = 6), sisterhood method (n = 35), mixed methods (n = 4), and mathematical modeling (n = 13). CONCLUSION: Sisterhood method studies and RAMOS studies that combined institutional records and community data produced maternal mortality ratios more comparable with WHO estimates.

Causes of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review of studies published from 2015 to 2020.

BACKGROUND: Maternal deaths remain high in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and their causes of maternal death must be analysed frequently in this region to guide interventions. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of studies published from 2015 to 2020 that reported the causes of maternal deaths in 57 SSA countries. The objective was to identify the leading causes of maternal deaths using the international classification of disease - 10th revision, for maternal mortality (ICD-MM). We searched PubMed, WorldCat Discovery Libraries Worldwide (including Medline, Web of Science, LISTA and CNHAL databases), and Google Scholar databases and citations, using the search words "maternal mortality", "maternal death", "pregnancy-related death", "reproductive age mortality" and "causes" as MeSH terms or keywords. The last date of search from all databases was 21 May 2021. We included original research articles published in English and excluded articles that mentioned SSA country names without study results for those countries, studies that reported death from a single cause or assigned causes of death using computer models or incompletely broke down the causes of death. We exported, de-duplicated and screened the searches electronically in EndNote version 20. We selected the final articles by reading the titles, abstracts and full texts. Two authors searched the articles and assessed the risk of bias using a tool adapted from Montoya and others. Data from the articles were extracted onto an Excel worksheet and the deaths classified into ICD-MM groups. Proportions were calculated with 95% confidence intervals and compared for deaths attributed to each cause and ICD-MM group. We compared the results with WHO and Global Burden of Disease (GDB) estimates. RESULTS: We identified 38 studies that reported 11 427 maternal and four incidental deaths. Twenty-one of the third-eight studies were retrospective record reviews. The leading causes of death (proportions and 95% confidence intervals (CI)) were obstetric hemorrhage: 28.8% (95% CI = 26.5%-31.2%), hypertensive disorders in pregnancy: 22.1% (95% CI = 19.9%-24.2%), non-obstetric complications: 18.8% (95% CI = 16.4%-21.2%) and pregnancy-related infections: 11.5% (95% CI = 9.8%-13.2%). The studies reported few deaths of unknown/undetermined and incidental causes. CONCLUSIONS: Limitations of this review were the failure to access more data from government reports, but the study results compared well with WHO and GDB estimates. Obstetric hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, non-obstetric complications, and pregnancy-related infections are the leading causes of maternal deaths in SSA. However, deaths from incidental causes are likely under-reported in this region. SSA countries must continue to invest in health information systems that collect and publishes comprehensive, quality, maternal death causes data. A publicly accessible repository of data sets and government reports for causes of maternal death will be helpful in future reviews. This review received no specific funding and was not registered.

Protocol for analysing the epidemiology of maternal mortality in Zimbabwe: A civil registration and vital statistics trend study.

BACKGROUND: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) carries the highest burden of maternal mortality, yet, the accurate maternal mortality ratios (MMR) are uncertain in most SSA countries. Measuring maternal mortality is challenging in this region, where civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems are weak or non-existent. We describe a protocol designed to explore the use of CRVS to monitor maternal mortality in Zimbabwe-an SSA country. METHODS: In this study, we will collect deliveries and maternal death data from CRVS (government death registration records) and health facilities for 2007-2008 and 2018-2019 to compare MMRs and causes of death. We will code the causes of death using classifications in the maternal mortality version of the 10th revision to the international classification of diseases. We will compare the proportions of maternal deaths attributed to different causes between the two study periods. We will also analyse missingness and misclassification of maternal deaths in CRVS to assess the validity of their use to measure maternal mortality in Zimbabwe. DISCUSSION: This study will determine changes in MMR and causes of maternal mortality in Zimbabwe over a decade. It will show whether HIV, which was at its peak in 2007-2008, remains a significant cause of maternal deaths in Zimbabwe. The study will recommend measures to improve the quality of CRVS data for future use to monitor maternal mortality in Zimbabwe and other SSA countries of similar characteristics.

Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on obstetric fistula repair program in Zimbabwe.

The advent of Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected many programs worldwide, public health, including programming for obstetric fistula were not spared. Obstetric fistula is an abnormal connection between the vagina and the bladder or the rectum resulting from obstetric causes, mainly prolonged obstructed labour. Zimbabwe has two obstetric fistula repair centers. Because the program uses specialist surgeons from outside the country, the repairs are organized in quarterly camps with a target to repair 90 women per quarter. This study aimed at assessing the impact of restrictions on movement and gathering of people brought about by the Cocid-19 pandemic and to characterize participants of the camp which was held in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic at Mashoko Hospital. Specifically it looked at how Covid-19 pandemic affected programming for obstetric fistula repair and characterized participants of the fistula camp held in November to December 2020 at one of the repair centers. A review of the dataset and surgical log sheets for the camp and national obstetric fistula dataset was conducted. Variables of interest were extracted onto an excel spreadsheet and analyzed for frequencies and proportions. Data were presented in charts, tables and narratives. The study noted that Covid-19 pandemic negatively affected performance of fistula repairs greatly with only 25 women repaired in 2020 as compared to 313 in 2019. Ninety women were called to come for repairs but 52 did not manage to attend due to reasons related to the restriction of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Two thirds of those women suffered from urinary incontinence while the other third had fecal incontinence. The successful repair rate was 92%. This study concluded that the pandemic greatly affected programming of fistula repair in the country and recommended the Ministry of Health and Child Care to institute measures to resume programming as soon as the situation allows.

Assessment of quality of obstetric care in Zimbabwe using the standard primipara.

BACKGROUND: To improve maternity services in any country, there is need to monitor the quality of obstetric care. There is usually disparity of obstetric care and outcomes in most countries among women giving birth in different obstetric units. However, comparing the quality of obstetric care is difficult because of heterogeneous population characteristics and the difference in prevalence of complications. The concept of the standard primipara was introduced as a tool to control for these various confounding factors. This concept was used to compare the quality of obstetric care among districts in different geographical locations in Zimbabwe. METHODS: This was a substudy of the Zimbabwe Maternal and Perinatal Mortality Study. In the main study, cluster sampling was done with the provinces as clusters and 11 districts were randomly selected with one from each of the nine provinces and two from the largest province. This database was used to identify the standard primipara defined as; a woman in her first pregnancy without any known complications who has spontaneous onset of labour at term. Obstetric process and outcome indicators of the standard primipara were then used to compare the quality of care between rural and urban, across rural and across urban districts of Zimbabwe. RESULTS: A total of 45,240 births were recruited in the main study and 10,947 women met the definition of standard primipara. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and the perinatal mortality rate (PNMR) for the standard primiparae were 92/100000 live births and 15.4/1000 total births respectively. Compared to urban districts, the PNMR was higher in the rural districts (11/1000 total births vs 19/ 1000 total births, p < 0.001). In the urban to urban and rural to rural districts comparison, there were significant differences in most of the process indicators, but not in the PNMR. CONCLUSIONS: The study has shown that the standard primipara can be used as a tool to measure and compare the quality of obstetric care in districts in different geographical areas. There is need to explore further how the quality of obstetric care can be improved in rural districts of Zimbabwe.

Barriers of Adherence and Possible Solutions to Nonadherence to Antidiabetic Therapy in Women with Diabetes in Pregnancy: Patients' Perspective.

Diabetes in pregnancy contributes to maternal mortality and morbidity though it receives little attention in developing countries. The purpose of the study was to explore the barriers to adherence and possible solutions to nonadherence to antidiabetic therapy in women with diabetes in pregnancy. Antidiabetic therapy referred to diet, physical activity, and medications. Four focus group discussions (FGDs), each with 7 participants, were held at a central hospital in Zimbabwe. Included were women with a diagnosis of diabetes in pregnancy, aged 18 to 49 years, and able to speak Shona or English. Approval was obtained from respective ethical review boards. FGDs followed a semistructured questionnaire. Detailed notes were taken during the interviews which were also being audiotaped. Data were analysed thematically and manually. Themes identified were barriers and possible solutions to nonadherence to therapy. Barriers were poor socioeconomic status, lack of family, peer and community support, effects of pregnancy, complicated therapeutic regimen, pathophysiology of diabetes, cultural and religious beliefs, and poor health care system. Possible solutions were fostering social support, financial support, and improvement of hospital services. Individualised care of women with diabetes is essential, and barriers and possible solutions identified can be utilised to improve care.