Background

Although progress has been made recently in reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone, maternal mortality remains an important public health problem in the country that needs further reduction to meet the SDG targets by 2030.

Methods

This was a retrospective review of 86 consecutive maternal deaths at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH), Freetown from October 2022 to September 2023

Results

The mean age of the study population as 27.1 (SD 5.8) years and majority (88.7%) were between Para 1 to 4. In addition, 16% of patients were booked at Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH), 53.5% booked at referral health facilities and 30.2% were unbooked. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (29.1%), postpartum haemorrhage (14%) and puerperal sepsis ( 10.5%) were the leading causes of maternal deaths. Most of the maternal deaths occurred within 24hrs of admission into the hospital accounting for 53.5%, while 27.9% died after 24hrs to 72hrs of admission into the hospital. Overall, about 85% of the women experienced delay in accessing or receiving care while Type 3 delay was the commonest form identified in 52.3% of cases respectively.

Conclusion

Maternal mortality remains a public health problem in PCMH Freetown. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and postpartum haemorrhage are the leading causes. Delay in accessing or receiving care are contributory to maternal mortality. Addressing these challenges can sustain recent progress that has been made in reducing maternal mortality in Sierra Leone