Prevalence and effective factors of maternal mortality in Hormozgan Province from 2007 until 2011

Introduction: Maternal death caused by pregnancy and childbirth complications is one of the most important indicators of development of a society, and most countries are committed to reduce its rate. The reason for choosing this index as a development profile is the impact of various social and economic factors on it. Maternal mortality in Hormozgan Province, as one of the most disadvantaged provinces of Iran according to national indicators and targets of the World Health Organization, has an undesirable situation. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the prevalence and risk factors of pregnant women mortality in the province during 2007-2011. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the data were collected from prenatal care files, hospital records, and completed standard questionnaires of the National System of Maternal Mortality Care. The causes of mothers’ death were identified according to the autopsy report (in case of autopsy), comments of members of the University Committee, and final decision of the National Committee about mothers’ death. Morally, all extracted information were collected and coded anonymously. The data were analyzed using SPSS through t-test. Results: The rate of maternal mortality during 5 years of the study was 39.81 per hundred thousand live births mostly occurred in the age group of 18-35 years (76.11%), with the highest number living in rural areas (85.93%). The most and less prevalent causes of maternal death were bleeding (25.37%) and infection (2.98%), respectively 20.89% of mothers had 5 or higher pregnancies, and in 34.32% of them, two recent pregnancies were occurred in less than three years 47.76% of the dead mothers suffered from an underlying disease from the beginning of pregnancy 76.11% of mothers have died during and after pregnancy, and 23.89% during childbirth and 76.11% of them had age-appropriate care during pregnancy, and the remaining had incomplete or no care (23.89%). Conclusion: The results showed that the maternal mortality rate in Hormozgan Province was far from the national average. It seems that raising awareness of society regarding the warning signs of pregnancy and postpartum, increasing coverage of prenatal, pregnancy, and postnatal care, and improvement of the quality of family planning counseling can be effective in reducing maternal mortality.