Assessment of Maternal Mortality and Contributing Factors in Some Rural Communities of Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Aim: This study assess the implicated causes of maternal mortality in some rural communities in Bayelsa state. Communities visited having health facilities with existing records of maternal mortality from 2018-2023 include both public and private health / hospitals and TBAs centres within Ogbia LGA. Using a purposive sampling technique. Materials: The data were derived from a sproform used to record the date of maternal death during or after pregnancy within the stipulated years of study. The TBAs were asked orally the number of deaths that have occurred in their centres within the previous years.

Results: The results from this study showed a highest peak of 43.48% prevalence rate of maternal mortality after 42 days of delivery in 2019, followed by 41.43% in 2018 and 29.01% in 2023.However maternal mortality during delivery was higher in 2021 (38.78%), and 2020 (37.21%) compared with 2019 (15.22%) and 2023 of 30.69%. The main causes of maternal death observed from this study was the development of anemia during pregnancy and uncontrolled bleeding within the study years considered. Other factors contributing to maternal mortality identified were delay in seeking medical care and inadequate access to quality health care. Errors from TBAs was also a factor in 2018(23.05%), 2020(20.52%), 2022(18.32%) compared with 2023 (16.04%).

Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate a lack of awareness to the importance of engaging regularly in healthy balanced dietary foods intake during pregnancy, delay in seeking health care at the appropriate time and errors from inexperienced TBAs was the foremost cause of maternal mortality. We therefore recommend that the government should create an awareness campaign strategy to inform rural dwellers about the importance of early registration for safe delivery in health facilities located in their respective communities from the onset of pregnancy and after delivery.