Maternal mortality due to cardiac disease in Sri Lanka
Haththotuwa, H.R.; Attygalle, D.; Jayatilleka, A.C.; Karunaratna, V.; Thorne, S.A.
International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics the Official Organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 104(3): 194-198
2009
ISSN/ISBN: 1879-3479 PMID: 19081565 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2008.10.031Document Number: 205715
To investigate Sri Lankan maternal deaths due to heart disease and to consider low-cost interventions to reduce these deaths. A qualitative study based on retrospective audit of all maternal deaths and late maternal deaths in Sri Lanka caused by cardiac disease in 2004. A total of 145 maternal deaths were recorded in 2004, for a maternal mortality rate of 38 per 100,000. There were 42 indirect deaths, 25 of which were due to cardiac disease; 23 deaths had a specific cardiac cause listed. Standard care was identified in prepregnancy counseling, contraception, and prenatal community and specialist care. Cardiac disease is a major cause of maternal mortality in Sri Lanka, second only to postpartum hemorrhage. Rheumatic mitral valve disease is responsible for more than a third of maternal deaths from cardiac disease. Substandard care was identified in all cases; strategies to improve care could allow a reduction in maternal cardiac deaths.
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