DETERMINANTS OF MATERNAL MORTALITY IN ECLAMPSIA IN INDIA

Two hundred and seventy-one pregnant mothers with eclamptic seizures admitted in a tertiary level teaching institution in South India over a period of 9 years from 1984 to 1992 were critically analysed with a particular reference to maternal mortality. The incidence of eclampsia was 0.87% of the total hospital deliveries (1 in 115 deliveries) and was increasing in consecutive years. Seventy per cent of the patients were primagravidas and more than 95% of them had not received antenatal care and were alarmingly unaware of any kind of examination during pregnancy. Eclampsia accounted for 20.9% of all maternal deaths during the same period and the case mortality rate was 7.8%. There is an urgent need to impart special training in antenatal care to non-obstetrician doctors as well as paramedical staff working in the community and to provide health education to the community to reduce mortality from eclampsia.