Maternal Mortality, Proteinuria and Pregnancy Induced Hypertension: Case Study of a Regional Hospital in Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana

Abstract

Globally, one of the public health problems confronting the medical community is maternal mortality. This study seeks to investigate the relationship between maternal mortality, proteinuria and pregnancy induced   hypertension among some pregnant mothers in Ghana. In this study, protein in the urine and blood pressure of some 450 pregnant women who visited the Hospital between January to December, 2015 were monitored. Retrospective data based on maternal death from January 2010 and December 2015 were also retrieved and analysed. This was augmented by interviewing 150 respondents (75 each from antenatal and postnatal section of the hospital) based on maternal health history, knowledge on PIH etc. The results of the study with respect to proteinuria and the blood pressure (BP) monitoring showed that, 36% of these mothers had traces of protein in their urine whiles 32 mothers out of 450 had elevated systolic and diastolic BP. The study also revealed, when data on maternal mortality and PIH of pregnant mothers were retrieved that, a total of 75, 439 (N=75,439) mothers attended the antennal section of the Hospital. Out of this, 139 of them (0.18%) died due to PIH. Maternal child bearing behaviour, nulliparity when analysed showed that, greater proportions of antennal (AN) mothers (32.00%) were nulliparous compared to their PN counterpart (0%) (p<0.0001).  Results of our study has shown that, maternal mortality due to PIH were high due to elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as high doses of trace amount of protein in pregnant mothers’ urine.

Keywords: Nulliparity, Eclampsia, Maternal, Mortality, Antenatal, Postnatal,