Author(s)

Gertrude Rose De Lima Kogboma Wongo^1*, Thibaut Boris Clavaire Songo-Kette Gbekere², Rodrigue Herman Doyama-Woza³, Siméon Matoulou-M’bala Wa-Ngogbe¹, Alida Koirokpi¹, Sabrina Ouapou¹, Georges Trésor Gamache¹, Norbert Richard Ngbale¹, Abdoulaye Sepou¹

¹Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Communautaire, Bangui, Central African Republic.
²Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de l’Amitié Sino Centrafricaine, Bangui, Central African Republic.
³Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic.

Introduction: Pregnancy is a physiological condition that can sometimes end in death. The death of a woman is a constant concern for the obstetrician and is considered a major public health problem in our developing countries. Objective: To identify the determinants that contribute to maternal morbidity and mortality in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department of the University Community Hospital. Methodology: We conducted a retrospective study from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019 (5 years) in the obstetrics and gynaecology department of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Communautaire (CHUC). It focused on the determinants of maternal mortality. Our study population consisted of all women who died during the period and met the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of maternal mortality (MOMA). We used non-probability sampling with the exhaustive choice technique. Results: The study revealed that the number of deaths recorded was 98, while 17,172 live births were registered during the same period. The maternal mortality ratio was 570 per 100,000 live births. The most common age group was 20 to 24, with an average age of 26. The frequency of death among primiparous women was 37.74%, pauciparous women 28.30% and multiparous women 26.42%. Direct causes were dominated by abortion complications (22.41%), followed by infections (9.30%) and haemorrhage (8.19%). Indirect causes were dominated by anaemia with a proportion of 45.16%. The majority of maternal deaths occurred in the post-partum period (34.71%). Most maternal deaths occurred after vaginal delivery, 19 cases (63.33%), while 11 deaths (36.66%) occurred after caesarean section. The occurrence of direct causes was associated with age less than or equal to 25 years, abortion complications and primiparity, with a statistically significant difference. Conclusion: At the end of this study, complications of unsafe abortion and poverty are all factors contributing to the rise in the maternal mortality rate. Emphasis should be placed on promoting family planning, as this would make a major contribution to reducing maternal mortality.

Maternal Mortality, Determinants, Community Hospital

Wongo, G. , Gbekere, T. , Doyama-Woza, R. , Wa-Ngogbe, S. , Koirokpi, A. , Ouapou, S. , Gamache, G. , Ngbale, N. and Sepou, A. (2023) Determinants of Maternal Mortality at the Community University Hospital of Bangui: Central African Republic. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 13, 1478-1486. doi: 10.4236/ojog.2023.139123.