Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
23 October 2023
A new study By MRCG and Gambia Government Partners
[Banjul, The Gambia] A study conducted by researchers at MRC Unit The Gambia atLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (MRCG at LSHTM), Ministry of Healthand The Gambia Bureau of Statistics has revealed that the number of women who diedfrom pregnancy-related causes in The Gambia in 2012 was twice what it was thought tobe.
Using nationally representative data from the 2013 National Population and HousingCensus, the prevailing pregnancy-related mortality for the country was robustly estimated at 861 per 100,000 live births, as opposed to 433 per 100,000 live births adopted in the Government’s national health policy and planning documents; and on which the country’s Sustainable Development Goal target for maternal mortality was based.
Estimates byLocal Government Area were also determined for the first time. Kuntaur Local GovernmentArea registered the highest level of pregnancy-related mortality of 1,877 per 100,000 livebirths; followed by Mansakonko with 1,230 per 100,000 live births, and Basse with 1,096per 100,000 live births. Pregnancy-related deaths were lower in Banjul and Kanifingmunicipalities with 524 and 621 per 100,000 live births, respectively.
Complementary information on causes of death also indicated that pregnancy-inducedhypertension and obstetric haemorrhage, that is, bleeding as a result of childbirth, werethe causes of seven in ten deaths among pregnant women or during and after childbirth.
According to Dr. Momodou Jasseh, Unit Demographer at MRCG and lead author of thestudy, “this research constitutes the first attempt to estimate mortality among women dueto pregnancy-related causes using a nationally representative dataset, the 2013 census.
All previous efforts were based on small sample surveys or indirect methods of estimation,which rendered their outputs largely flawed, significantly downward-biased and unsuitablefor use in national maternal and reproductive health planning”.
“The Gambia’s Reproductive and Child Health policy and programme will need to berevised against the derived census-based pregnancy-related mortality ratio, and a newnational Sustainable Development Goal target for maternal mortality set accordingly”, heconcluded.
Dr. Mustapha Bittaye, Director of Health Services and a co-author, said that “by ascertaining what the national and regional levels have been in 2012, the results of this study has presented the Ministry of Health with an excellent opportunity to review the Government’s relevant health policies and programmes; as well as turn a new leaf in its engagement with NGOs, CSOs and the public on the issue of maternal/pregnancy-related mortality in The Gambia”.“This study has highlighted the marked regional differences in maternal mortality and assuch will guide the needed intervention and resources to be allocated at a particularregion”, Dr. Bittaye remarked.
He also reaffirmed the commitment of the Ministry of Health in engaging in furthercollaborative research with MRCG on maternal or pregnancy-related mortality andpropose evidence-based actions to curb the problem going forward.
On his part, the Statistician General of The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) and a co-author, Nyakassi M.B. Sanyang, reiterated the importance of producing accurate statisticsand indicators for use in the formulation of sound national development policies andprogramme planning. Mr. Sanyang registered the commitment of GBoS to include therelevant questions in the forthcoming and subsequent censuses to facilitate the estimationof more recent national and regional levels of pregnancy-related mortality in The Gambia.
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Reference
Jasseh, M., Sanyang, N., Bittaye, M., Mohammed, N. I., Gazeley, U. M., Antonio, M., &
Reniers, G. (2023). Burden and causes of pregnancy-related mortality in The Gambia:
evidence from census and health and demographic surveillance data. BMJ Public Health,
1(1), e000019. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2023-000019
Contact
Isatou Njai-Cham
Head of Communications and Engagement
info@mrc.gm
MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM
P. O. Box 273, Banjul
The Gambia
