Perinatal outcome of maternal deaths at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa, January 2014 - June 2019.

BACKGROUND

Maternal death is a tragic event. Of maternal deaths worldwide, 99% occur in low- and middle-income countries. Perinatal outcome is related to maternal wellbeing. Maternal death has a negative impact on fetal and neonatal outcome in the short and long term.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the perinatal outcomes of pregnancies that ended in a maternal death at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH), Johannesburg, South Africa, over a 5-year period, to describe the causes of maternal death, and to determine the stillbirth rate (SBR) and early neonatal death (ENND) rate in this population.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of maternal deaths in women with a viable pregnancy from January 2014 to June 2019 at CHBAH. All maternal deaths with gestation >26 weeks or fetal weight >500 g were included in the study. Information on demographics, booking status, antenatal care, pregnancy outcome, and fetal and neonatal outcome was extracted from maternal and neonatal files.

RESULTS

Of a total of 183 maternal deaths during the study period, 147 were included in the study. The institutional maternal mortality ratio was 135 deaths per 100 000 live births. Hypertension was the main direct cause of death (36.5%; n=27/74), followed by pregnancy related sepsis (27.4%; n=21/74) and obstetric haemorrhage (20.6%; n=15/74). Non-pregnancy-related infections, of which 91.4% were HIV and HIV-related complications, comprised 47.9% (n=35/73) of indirect causes of death, followed by medical and surgical disorders. Of a total of 151 babies, including two sets of twins and one set of triplets, 137 were delivered and 14 were undelivered at the time of maternal death. Ninety-one babies (61.9%) were born alive and 51 (34.6%) were stillbirths. Of the 91 liveborn infants, 6 (6.5%) had an ENND. Of the 51 stillbirths, 14 (27.5%) were undelivered and 11 (21.6%) were delivered by perimortem caesarean section. The SBR was 347 per 1 000 maternal deaths and the ENND rate 66 per 1 000 live births. The perinatal mortality rate (PMR) was 388 per 1 000 maternal deaths, which is 12 times higher than the PMR per 1 000 live births for the general population.

CONCLUSION

Women who experience maternal death have babies with very poor perinatal outcomes, with a very high SBR, ENND rate and PMR. The health of the mother has a direct and significant effect on fetal and neonatal outcomes.