Effect of maternal death on child survival in rural West Africa: 25 years of prospective surveillance data in The Gambia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The death of a mother is a tragedy in itself but it can also have devastating effects for the survival of her children. We aim to explore the impact of a mother's death on child survival in rural Gambia, West Africa.

Methods

We used 25 years of prospective surveillance data from the Farafenni Health and Demographic surveillance system (FHDSS). Mortality rates per 1,000 child-years up to ten years of age were estimated and Kaplan-Meier survival curves plotted by maternal vital status. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine factors associated with child survival.

Findings

Between 1st April 1989 and 31st December 2014, a total of 2, 221 (7.8%) deaths occurred during 152,906 child-years of follow up. Overall mortality rate was 14.53 per 1,000 child

SUBMITTER: Scott S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5321282 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature