OBJECTIVE: To investigate Sri Lankan maternal deaths due to heart disease and to consider low-cost interventions to reduce these deaths. METHODS: A qualitative study based on retrospective audit of all maternal deaths and late maternal deaths in Sri Lanka caused by cardiac disease in 2004. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate Sri Lankan maternal deaths due to heart disease and to consider low-cost interventions to reduce these deaths. METHODS: A qualitative study based on retrospective audit of all maternal deaths and late maternal deaths in Sri Lanka caused by cardiac disease in 2004. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION: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.
Authors: Tabassum Firoz; Oier Ateka-Barrutia; Jose Antonio Rojas-Suarez; Chandrika Wijeyaratne; Eliana Castillo; Hennie Lombaard; Laura A Magee Journal: Obstet Med Date: 2015-08-27
Authors: Andrew Y Chang; Juliet Nabbaale; Haddy Nalubwama; Emmy Okello; Isaac Ssinabulya; Christopher T Longenecker; Allison R Webel Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-03-28 Impact factor: 3.240