To determine the causes and frequencies of maternal deaths in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) as seen at autopsy; to find their age associated frequencies; and to compare these findings with previous studies done in this hospital as well as those from other parts of the world.
Materials and methods: Those cases for which autopsies were requested and performed between January 1989 and December 1998 (inclusive) formed the material for this study. Excluded were patients who were dead on arrival, as well as badly autolysed cases. Records including autopsy protocols were retrieved from the Morbid Anatomy Department and relevant information was extracted and analysed from these records.
Results: About 81% of autopsy certified were due to direct causes. The three leading causes of maternal death were obstetric haemorrhage (25.61% ), genital sepsis (19.68% ) and pregnancy-induced hypertension (16.71% ). The most common indirect cause of death was anaemia (7.01% ) making it the fifth leading cause of death in this study. Majority of deaths (70% ) occurred in those between 11 and 30 years. Maternal mortality Ratio was 2,920/100,000 live births.
Conclusion: Though maternal mortality figures from hospital-based studies are usually over-estimates of the true picture in the community they tend to provide a more thorough assessment of the underlying causes of death and their contributing factors, hence providing useful data for planning interventions.