Factors influencing maternal mortality among women in reproductive age 15-49 in Uganda

Abstract

The study was guided by the topic role of factors influencing maternal mortality among women in the reproductive age 15-49 in Uganda. The main objective of this study was to assess the key factors influencing maternal mortality among women in reproductive age 15-49 in Uganda with specific objectives like to examine the impact of age of the mother, wealth index, geographical region, ANC visits, education and parity, Secondary Data from UDHS 2016 was used. The dataset was mixed-up with so many areas and variables where maternal mortality was inclusive but only the variables that suited the study were considered which included 3658 Women of the reproductive age 15-49 on whom analysis was made. Data analysis was performed at univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels in Stata 15 to establish associations between variables. Under univariate level, there were 6.862% maternal deaths recorded in the data and rest of the deaths were for other causes, majority of the women had Primary level of education (66.89%) and very few had University Education (2.68%), More than half (71.54%) of the women were living in rural areas and about a quarter (24.74%) of the women had the highest wealth index. The results of this study under bivariate analysis using Chi Square test revealed that maternal age, wealth index and ANC visits were all significant factors with a P value less than 0.1 (p<0.5). These were the variables selected for further analysis. Under multivariate analysis, the logistic regression was used and ANC visits was the greatest factor that influences the maternal deaths among reproductive women of age 15-49. It was revealed that women have a chance of 30.5% of surviving maternal death for every one ANC visit they make to the maternal health facility. The results of this study have important insights for relevance of pregnant women to make regular ANC visits and the need for establishing adequate maternal facilities to reduce maternal deaths among women in the reproductive age 15-49 and also boast maternal health of women in the reproductive age in Uganda. The study concludes that regular ANC visits to the maternal health facility can help many women to survive maternal death. The study finally recommends that there is need to make maternal health services affordable to every woman in the reproductive age 15-49 and sensitize women in their reproductive age about the significance of regular ANC visits during pregnancy so as to increase awareness of its benefits concerning their maternal health.