Analysis of Obstetrical Lethality in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the University Teaching Hospital Yalgado OUEDRAOGO (UTH-YO)

Objectives: Analyze the determinants of obstetric lethality in the Department of Obstetrical Gynecology at the University Teaching Hospital Yalgado OUEDRAOGO (UTH-YO) of Ouagadougou from 2015 to 2018. Methodology: We conducted an analytical, descriptive cross-sectional study on maternal deaths in the UTH-YO. The data were collected retrospectively. All patients meeting the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of maternal death and patients who died as a result of direct obstetric complications in the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University Teaching Hospital Yalgado OUEDRAOGO (UTH-YO) of Ouagadougou from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018 were included. Results: We recorded 484 maternal deaths and 22947 births, for a maternal mortality ratio of 2109 deaths per 100,000 live births (NV). Patients who died as a result of direct obstetric complications accounted for 412 out of 10,564 cases, representing an obstetric lethality rate of 3.9%. These were patients with an average age of 27.6 years, without income generating activities (93.6%), nulliparous and pauciparous patients respectively (26%) and (31%). Most of them came from health facilities in the city of Ouagadougou (50%). The 4 main causes of death were haemorrhages (29.7%), hypertensive disorders (20.8%), abortion complications (16.8%) and infections (14%) respectively. The most lethal causes were thromboembolic pathology (27.27%), infections (13%), abortion complications (7.6%), bleeding (5.4%) and hypertensive disorders (4.2%). The notion of the 3 delays, the insufficient technical platform, the lack of financial resources and the lack of staff qualification were the contributing factors to the causes of death. Conclusion: From our study, it appears, as elsewhere, that most maternal deaths are preventable, hence the need for coordinated action to take effective action against maternal mortality.