Estimation of maternal mortality by sisterhood method in two rural communities in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: One of the sustainable development goals is reducing the global maternal mortality burden with maternal mortality ratio (MMR) being one of the indicators to track the progress. Unfortunately, there is paucity of MMR data, especially at subnational levels. Standard household survey methods used in maternal mortality estimation are very resource intensive. The indirect sisterhood method offers a cheaper alternative. Although the results may be retrospective and not very useful in tracking progress, it provides useful information for advocacy. Objective: This article determines the proportion of deaths that was due to maternal causes, lifetime risk of maternal death, and MMR in two rural communities in northwestern Nigeria. Methodology: The indirect sisterhood method for estimation of maternal mortality was used to collect information from a sample of 1905 women within the reproductive age group in two rural communities, in Kaduna state, northwestern Nigeria. Results: There were a total of 416 deaths among ever married sisters of the respondents, of which 50% were due to maternal causes. The lifetime risk of maternal death is one in 11, whereas the MMR was 1400 per 100,000 live births. Conclusion: The maternal mortality indicators in these two communities are higher than the national rates and this underscores the need for the generation of subnational data and the scaling up of maternal mortality indicators. It also underpins the need to focus on social determinants like maternal education and early marriage in the course of reducing maternal mortality.