Untitled - Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative - Memorial ...

In Ghana, hospital-based studies on maternal mortality
have also shown that most maternal deaths are the result of
delivery c omplic a t i o ns which lead to puerperal complications
and then death [2 5] . The mortality rate from puerperal sepsis
wa s observed to be 68 .2 per 100 ,000 live births in Accra t r om
1963-1967 by Ampofo [25J . In 19 86 / 87 at the Komfa Ano kye
Hospital , Kumasi , the maternal mortality rate recorded was 8 .6
per 10 00 , and haemorrhage, eclampsia, anaemia, and i n f ection
were i de ntifi ed as the four major ca uses of maternal death
[22J.
This pattern of a c ompli ca t ed or unsafe l abour, i n an
alr eady health- c omprom ised pregn ant woman, r esu l ting i n d eath
later in t he puerperium is characteristic not only of Africa
but of other poor nations .tn the world [ 14 ]. In Indonesia [37J
for examp l e, haemorrhag e was the number one cause of death
(46\), f ollowed by postpartum sepsis (llt) . In Bangladesh
[3 8 , J9] , be t we e n 10 -2 0\ of maternal deaths are related to
haemorrhage and another 7- 17 \ are ca used by postpartum sepsis .
I n I nd i a the figures for haemorrhage and postpartum sepsis are
20\ a nd 14\ respectively [40] .
25
In the rich countries of the world not only are maternal
mortality rat e s ve r y low but the propor tion o f deaths
resUlting from haemorrhage or i nfection are reduced [ 41 ,42] .
In 198 7 in ontar io, Canada, 13 de aths we r e reported i n
pr egna nt fema les, Df these only one, due to amniotic fluid