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BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

High maternal mortality in Jigawa State, Northern Nigeria estimated using the sisterhood method

Authors: Vandana Sharma, Willa Brown, Muhammad Abdullahi Kainuwa, Jessica Leight, Martina Bjorkman Nyqvist

Published in: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Maternal mortality is extremely high in Nigeria. Accurate estimation of maternal mortality is challenging in low-income settings such as Nigeria where vital registration is incomplete. The objective of this study was to estimate the lifetime risk (LTR) of maternal death and the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in Jigawa State, Northern Nigeria using the Sisterhood Method.

Methods

Interviews with 7,069 women aged 15–49 in 96 randomly selected clusters of communities in 24 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Jigawa state were conducted. A retrospective cohort of their sisters of reproductive age was constructed to calculate the lifetime risk of maternal mortality. Using most recent estimates of total fertility for the state, the MMR was estimated.

Results

The 7,069 respondents reported 10,957 sisters who reached reproductive age. Of the 1,026 deaths in these sisters, 300 (29.2%) occurred during pregnancy, childbirth or within 42 days after delivery. This corresponds to a LTR of 6.6% and an estimated MMR for the study areas of 1,012 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (95% CI: 898–1,126) with a time reference of 2001.

Conclusions

Jigawa State has an extremely high maternal mortality ratio underscoring the urgent need for health systems improvement and interventions to accelerate reductions in MMR.

Trial registration

The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01487707). Initially registered on December 6, 2011.
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Metadata
Title
High maternal mortality in Jigawa State, Northern Nigeria estimated using the sisterhood method
Authors
Vandana Sharma
Willa Brown
Muhammad Abdullahi Kainuwa
Jessica Leight
Martina Bjorkman Nyqvist
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2393
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-017-1341-5

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