10 maternal deaths recorded for 2016 ― Norton

Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton has announced that the Ministry has recorded 10 maternal deaths for the year so far, with the most recent occurring a week ago.

The Minister said that while they are not happy with the figure, they are in a far better place than they were in 2015. While he could not pronounce on the cause of mortality for these women, Norton assured that the Ministry is working assiduously to reduce the numbers.
“Many times these cases are avoidable and that is what we are trying to do,” he said.
According to a recently released report, Maternal Mortality Estimates, which presently stands at 229/100,000 live births, there has not been any significant decline since the year 2000. There are two factors which cause maternal mortality; first, those that are directly related to obstetric complications during pregnancy and the second are related to indirect obstetric deaths.
It has been reported that 73 per cent of the maternal deaths in 2012 were direct deaths; that is, those resulting from obstetric difficulties of the pregnant state (pregnancy, delivery and postpartum), interventions, omissions, incorrect treatment, or a chain of events resulting from any of the aforementioned.
On the other hand, indirect obstetric deaths occur due to either previously existing conditions or from complications arising in pregnancy, which are not related to direct obstetric causes but may be aggravated by the physiological effects of pregnancy, which accounted for 27 per cent of the deaths in 2012.
Shadow Public Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, has stated that the high incidence of maternal deaths is an indication that the system is broken. “Many of the maternal deaths would somehow relate to hypertension and bleeding but they are preventable,” he said, adding that if Guyana had a strong system of surveillance where pregnant women visit the clinic regularly, they would be able to monitor those pregnancies considered as high risk.
Dr Anthony stated that many deaths could be avoided if the quality of healthcare services for pregnant women were available.
Additionally, he maintained that antenatal care is crucial to preventing complications during pregnancy and at births, and thus advocated for a primary healthcare system.
In 2015, the Public Health Ministry recorded 17 cases of maternal deaths, one short of the 2014 figures. This resulted in Guyana missing its goal to reduce maternal deaths by three-quarters between the years 1990 and 2015.