Health challenges
Health of women after severe obstetric complications in Burkina Faso: a longitudinal study
Health experiences of women with obstetric complications in Burkina Faso
Authors:
V. Filippi; R. Ganaba; R. Baggaley
Publisher:
The Lancet, 2007
Although maternal mortality is widely used as an indicator of development, the many pathways that link maternal health and illness to long-term economic and developmental indicators are under-explored. This article in The Lancet investigates how severe obstetric complications affect a range of health and other outcomes in the year after the end of pregnancy in hospitals in Burkina Faso. The authors compare the health experiences of women whose pregnancies ended in severe obstetric complications with those of women with uncomplicated childbirth.
The article finds that women with severe obstetric complications were poorer and less educated at baseline than were women with uncomplicated delivery. Women with severe obstetric complications, and their babies, were significantly more likely to die after discharge with 2% of the 337 studied dying within one year. Women with severe obstetric complications were significantly more likely to have experienced depression and anxiety at 3 months. The authors find that the women were increasingly more likely to have experienced suicidal thoughts within the past year at all time points and to report the pregnancy having had a negative effect on their lives at all time points, than were women with uncomplicated delivery. The authors conclude that women who give birth with severe obstetric complications are at greater risk of death and mental health problems than are women with uncomplicated delivery. Greater resources are needed to ensure that these women receive adequate care before and after discharge from hospital.
[adapted from the author]
