30 public hospitals in Kaduna record 123 maternal deaths in 6 months

One hundred and twenty-three maternal deaths have been recorded in 30 public health facilities in Kaduna state between January and June, 2018.

This was contained in the Kaduna state mid-year 2018 Maternal and Perinatal Deaths Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) report (January – June 2018) presented by the MPDSR committee at the 5^th quarterly interactive forum tagged #Open Kaduna Health Sector organized by Kaduna State Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM).

The chairman of the committee who presented the report, Malam Lawal Abubakar noted that this figure does not include women that died in private hospitals, primary health care centres (PHCs) and those that died at home within the period under review.

According to the report, 20 maternal deaths were recorded in 12 facilities in the Southern zone of the state; 68 deaths recorded in 10 facilities in the central zone and 35 deaths recorded in the northern zone.

Causes of maternal mortality in the 30 facilities was attributed to hemorrhage, sepsis, anaemia, eclampsia and ruptured uterus among others.

While the report pointed out that all the 30 hospitals visited have adequate stock of essential life-saving drugs which if used effectively could have helped in prevention and management of hemorrhage, anemia, sepsis and eclampsia among others. “36 percent of the hospitals do not have ready to use blood due to lack of a state-owned blood supply chain system; 77 percent of the hospitals have non-functional blood banks due to irregular supply of electricity,”

The MPDSR committee therefore called for establishment of mechanism that will ensure that essential life-saving drugs available at hospitals are accessible to all pregnant women in the state; noting that the number of women that are likely to die as a result of pregnancy or child birth can largely be prevented in the state.

As a matter of urgency, the committee called for repair of all broken-down blood banks and ambulances in the state; adding that all hospitals should have 24/7 electricity to ensure that life-saving equipment including blood banks and incubators among others are functioning effectively.

Responding, the commissioner of health in the state, Dr. Paul M. Dogo said efforts are on by the state government to address the issue of lack of blood in hospitals across the state. He disclosed that discussions are ongoing on how to use drones to transport blood to far distant areas; particularly security challenged areas.

He also assured that the issue of lack of electricity will soon be a thing of the past in hospitals across the state.