10 Mar 2014

Most maternal deaths that occur in Botswana are caused by a delay in receiving care at health facilities, coordinator of the Maternal Mortality Project, Dr Morrison Sinvula had said.

Speaking during the Botswana Health Review Session in Gaborone recently, Dr Sinvula said there were 134 maternal deaths last year compared to 137 in 2012.

Pregnancy-related conditions such as hypertension, miscarriage, HIV/AIDS caused 75 per cent of the maternal deaths, with HIV/AIDS alone causing 33 per cent of the deaths.

Dr Sinvula said factors such as delays in the home for attention and in seeking medical service compromised efforts to treat the ailments. He stressed that it was important for miscarriage to be noticed and managed within two hours of occurring.

He said maternal deaths could be reduced if all worked together. He added that working together would enable Botswana to realise the Millennium Development Goal of improving maternal health.

It was therefore important for health practitioners to monitor women in labour.  He also called on health practitioners to ensure the realisation of the MDG of reducing maternal mortality by 2015.

“It is very important for a health official to have a delivery plan for a woman in labour, have all the necessary tools and give them all the necessary care for a safe delivery,” he said.

Dr Sinvula said it is important for stock management of drugs and usable equipment to be put in place. Doctors and nurses should ensure that they identify complications and have an informed plan of delivery.

A gynaecologist, Dr Ewetse Mosweu, said  the health sector must worry about maternal mortality and reflect on what went wrong so that corrective measures would be put in place.

Dr Mosweu said it was time the health sector reflected on the volume of skilled care it had, review it when necessary to assure reduction in maternal mortality. She called on husbands to cooperate with their wives, especially on issues of planned pregnancies and family planning to reduce maternal deaths. ENDS