Estimating Maternal Mortality Rate Using Sisterhood Methods in Plateau State Nigeria

OBJECTIVES: A sisterhood method was used to determine the maternal mortality rate(s) in four (4) communities in Plateau State, and to compare the rates between Urban and Rural Communities. METHODOLOGY: Using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, a cross sectional survey of 1238 surviving siblings of dead ever married women (who died as a result of maternal causes) was done. RESULTS: The Maternal Mortality Rate was found to be 905/100,000 live births, with a life-time risk of 0.519, while the rates for urban and rural communities are 450 and 1,320/100,000 live births; and a life-time risk of 0.278 and 0.838 respectively. These figures indicate that the maternal mortality rate is still high in Plateau State, Nigeria. Therefore, the Safe Motherhood Initiative Programme should include a registration system of both maternal and child morbidity and mortality, which could serve as a surveillance strategy to identify the magnitude of the problem and to mobilize resources to areas where the problems are most prominent for adequate control. KEY WORDS: Maternal Mortality Rate, Sisterhood Method. Highland Medical Research Journal Vol.1(4) 2003: 28-3