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Assessment of maternal mortality in Tanzania
G E Walraven1, R J Mkanje, J van Roosmalen
1Sumve Designated District Hospital, Mwanza Region, Tanzania.
Objective:
To assess maternal mortality.
Design:
Prospective community-based survey, a sisterhood method survey and hospital data.
Setting:
The study was performed in communities in a rural area in Northwestern Tanzania and the local district hospital.
Results:
Four hundred and forty-seven pregnant women in the community survey were followed up as far as six weeks after delivery; there were 2865 respondents in the sisterhood survey; the hospital study involved 7526 deliveries. Maternal morality ratios derived from the prospective community-based survey, the sisterhood method survey and hospital data analysis were 241, 297, and 845 per 100,000 live births, respectively.
Conclusions:
Hospital data tend to overestimate maternal mortality in these communities. The sisterhood method is easier and more convenient than a prospective community-based study.