Although studies have assessed male involvement in birth preparedness and complication readiness, little is known about their involvement after the onset of maternal near miss complications. This information is important in developing appropriate strategies for male involvement in accessing emergency obstetric care (EmOC) in order to reduce Uganda’s high maternal mortality ratio. The study exam...

OBJECTIVES To audit the use of intrauterine balloon tamponade for the management of massive postpartum haemorrhage and compare outcomes with those documented in the literature. DESIGN Retrospective case series. SETTING Obstetric Unit of a regional hospital in Hong Kong. PATIENTS All cases with severe postpartum haemorrhage from January 2011 to June 2012 in which Bakri intrauterine balloon...

BACKGROUND Obstetric haemorrhage is the leading direct cause of maternal mortality in South Africa. OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence, indications, associations and maternal outcomes of emergency peripartum hysterectomies. METHODS A descriptive and retrospective analysis of patients who had peripartum hysterectomy between 1(st) February 2007 and 31(st) January 2009 in Nelson Mandela Acad...

OBJECTIVE To identify the major causes of perinatal mortality in South Africa. SETTING Seventy-three state hospitals throughout South Africa representing metropolitan areas, cities and towns and rural areas. METHOD Users of the Perinatal Problem Identification Programme (PPIP) amalgamated their data to provide descriptive information on the causes of perinatal death and the avoidable factor...

BACKGROUND To investigate the association between type of episiotomy and obstetric outcomes among 6,187 women with type 3 Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). METHODS We conducted a secondary analysis of women presenting in labor to 28 obstetric centres in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan between November 2001 and March 2003. Data were analysed using cross tabulations and mu...

A historical cohort study was conducted to examine the pregnancy outcome in women aged 40 or older and determine the effect of age on low birth weight. The pregnancy outcomes of 789 mothers aged 40 years or older were analysed and compared with those of 20,852 mothers aged 20-34 years. There were differences in socioeconomic status and obstetric characteristics between the two groups. The older...

OBJECTIVES To audit the use of compression sutures for the management of massive postpartum haemorrhage and compare outcomes to those documented in the literature. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING A regional obstetric unit in Hong Kong. PATIENTS Patients with severe postpartum haemorrhage encountered over a 5-year period from January 2008 to December 2012, in which compression sutures ...

Rupture of the gravid uterus is an obstetric catastrophe that is associated with complications that include massive blood loss, hysterectomy, and damage to the genitourinary tract. It is a serious complication that is associated with high maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. We conducted a retrospective review of case notes (from 2003 to 2009) to determine the incidence, causes, comp...

The role of antenatal care is being increasingly questioned, particularly in resource poor environments. The low predictability of antenatal markers for adverse maternal outcomes has led some to reject antenatal care as an efficient strategy in the fight against maternal and perinatal mortality. Few studies, however, have assessed the predictability of adverse outcomes other than dystocia or pe...