Publication:

Three delay model: to find out the reason for maternal deaths

Background Each year in India, roughly 28 million women experience pregnancy and 26 million have a live birth. Of these, an estimated 67,000 maternal deaths and one million new-born deaths occur each year. A woman dies as a result of complication arising during pregnancy and childbirth every 90 seconds in the world, and every 7 minutes in India. The three delay model can be used to find the causes of delays in relation to maternal deaths.

Methods A retrospective study was carried out in a tertiary care centre. All cases of maternal mortality between July 2010 to June 2016 were included in the study. Then data analysis was done.

Results Out of the total 382 maternal deaths, Majority of maternal deaths 43% were due to type 1 delay. 150 patients had delay in seeking help, 9 patients refused treatment and 5 patients refused admission to health care centre. 13% maternal deaths were due to type 3 delay which include delay in receiving adequate treatment, Delay in diagnosis and intervention, Lack of facilities etc.

Conclusions Type-1 delay was major contributors of maternal deaths in the study region. Therefore, to prevent the preventable maternal deaths effective action should be taken.