%0 Journal Article
%T Distribution of causes of maternal mortality among different socio-demographic groups in Ghana; a descriptive study
%A Benedict O Asamoah
%A Kontie M Moussa
%A Martin Stafstr£żm
%A Geofrey Musinguzi
%J BMC Public Health
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2458-11-159
%X The causes of maternal deaths were assessed with respect to age, educational level, rural/urban residence status and marital status. Data from a five year retrospective survey was used. The data was obtained from Ghana Maternal Health Survey 2007 acquired from the database of Ghana Statistical Service. A total of 605 maternal deaths within the age group 12-49 years were analysed using frequency tables, cross-tabulations and logistic regression.Haemorrhage was the highest cause of maternal mortality (22.8%). Married women had a significantly higher risk of dying from haemorrhage, compared with single women (adjusted OR = 2.7, 95%CI = 1.2-5.7). On the contrary, married women showed a significantly reduced risk of dying from abortion compared to single women (adjusted OR = 0.2, 95%CI = 0.1-0.4). Women aged 35-39years had a significantly higher risk of dying from haemorrhage (aOR 2.6, 95%CI = 1.4-4.9), whereas they were at a lower risk of dying from abortion (aOR 0.3, 95% CI = 0.1-0.7) compared to their younger counterparts. The risk of maternal death from infectious diseases decreased with increasing maternal age, whereas the risk of dying from miscellaneous causes increased with increasing age.The study shows evidence of variations in the causes of maternal mortality among different socio-demographic subgroups in Ghana that should not be overlooked. It is therefore recommended that interventions aimed at combating the high maternal mortality in Ghana should be both cause-specific as well as target-specific.Maternal mortality remains as a major Public Health challenge despite numerous strategies devised by the international community to curb it. Globally, maternal mortality is the leading cause of death among females aged 15-49 years old. More than 1500 women die each day from pregnancy related causes resulting in an estimated 550 000 maternal deaths annually [1]. In 2010, estimates developed by the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank [2] suggest that worldwide, abou
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