Determinants of Maternal Mortality in Eritrea

Abstract

Maternal mortality is the probability or percentage of mothers dying as a result of pregnancy related complications or post-delivery complications every year. In this paper, effort was made to investigate the influence of gross domestic product per capital, total fertility rate, and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate (termed as determinants) on maternal mortality of Somalia in the period 1990- 2012. Secondary data collected from the publications of United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and World Health Organization (WHO) were used. The trend was examined to detect their movements and changes with time. In order to determine the relationship between GDP per capital, total fertility rate and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate as explanatory and maternal mortality ratio as dependent variable and the influence of independent variables on maternal mortality, Pearson correlation coefficient and ordinary least square (OLS) regression estimates were computed. The findings showed that the trend of GDP per capital of Somalia was not predictable and there were fluctuations over time. GDP per capital of Somalia experienced decreasing trend within some periods and increasing trend in the other periods. The trend of the total fertility rate of Somalia from 1990 up to 2000 was an increasing trend while in the last decade from 2001 to 2012 was declining. In HIV/AIDs prevalence rate, there was generally rising trend of HIV/AIDs prevalence rate in Somalia within the period. The maternal mortality ratio of Somalia in the period exposed increasing trend in the period covered by the study under consideration. Consequently, the extent of maternal mortality ratio is as high as 978 deaths per 100,000 live births. It was also shown that GDP per capital, TFR, and HIV/AIDS The Pacific Journal of Science and Technology http://www.akamaiuniversity.us/PJST.htm prevalence rate have strong relationship to the maternal mortality ratio as R2 coefficient of determination was found as 81%. The study concluded that GDP per capital, TFR and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate have high influence on the maternal mortality and therefore, it is in line with the demographic transition theory. Based on these findings, it was therefore, recommended that incomes of the population among them vulnerable groups should be elevated by giving microfinance to poor families, put forward policies to reduce fertility rate such as education and employment opportunities given to the women, and Community awareness campaign to be taken to warn people the ways that HIV/AIDS spreads.