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Maternal Health and Maternal Mortality in Post War Liberia: A Survey Analysis

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Applied Demography and Public Health

Part of the book series: Applied Demography Series ((ADS,volume 3))

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Abstract

The United Negro College Fund Special Programs (UNCFSP) funded the partnership between Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi, and Cuttington University College, Suakoko, Liberia, to implement an intervention project based on three interconnected strategies: training, management and extension, and community engagement. The overall goal of this project is to develop capacity of health practitioners assigned to rural clinics and health centers to deliver better services to the most marginalized communities of women and children in an agrarian society recovering from two decades of war. The first of the five phases, that were proposed to implement this project, was to conduct needs assessment to identify and determine the magnitude of priorities of unmet needs. In an attempt to fulfill this objective, three independent surveys were conducted. The first survey focused on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors relating to HIV/AIDS, and 170 Liberians participated in that survey (Murty 2006). This study reports the findings of the other two surveys that are directly related to maternal health and maternal mortality—that is as perceived by the women in reproductive ages and by health care professionals/providers. Both surveys were conducted in the months of June and July of 2006.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The remaining four phases include: curriculum development process to produce 12 in-service training modules; piloting and revisions of the 12 modules; use of the modules to train two target groups—midwives and public health workers; and evaluation and module reproduction and ­distribution across the country.

  2. 2.

    This average number of children ever born per woman up to a certain age, or by the end of reproductive period, is a cohort measure of fertility. For the women of 45 years and above, this mean was 5.5, which reflects on completed family size and approximates the total fertility rate for Liberia (6.02) in 2006 (CIA-The World Fact Book). Thus the reproductive behavior of this sample is very close to national average.

  3. 3.

    Computed by simply subtracting the number of live births from number of pregnancies.

  4. 4.

    For an explanation of how these adjustment factors are developed, see the Methodological Note of Graham et al. 1989.

  5. 5.

    The sisterhood method typically recommends to consider the total fertility rate of 10–12 years before data collection. In this case, we have taken the total fertility rate of 1996 for Liberia (6.29), as found in the CIA’s World Fact Book.

  6. 6.

    The WHO estimates in 2000 for Liberia were: LTR = 1 in 16; MMR = 760 with an uncertainty range from 190 to 1,400 (see World Health Organization 2005). It is likely that the survey region has a higher MMR than the national average, and the national MMR itself may have been higher about 10–12 years ago.

  7. 7.

    These descriptions are compiled from respondents’ accounts in response to the question: Tell me about the hospital/clinic where you serve—in terms of its functions, staff size, number of patients it serves, number of babies delivered, etc.

  8. 8.

    These risk factors are commonly found in many developing countries. See for example, Strong 1992; United Nations Children’s Fund 1996; World Health Organization 1996, 1997; Graham 1997; Tsui et al. 1997; Abouzahr and Warlaw 2001; Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium 2004.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Population Studies Center, Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, GA, USA

    Komanduri S. Murty

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, GA, USA

    Jimmy D. McCamey Jr.

Authors
  1. Komanduri S. Murty
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  2. Jimmy D. McCamey Jr.
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Correspondence to Komanduri S. Murty .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Dept of Demography, University of Texas, San Antonio, West Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard 501, San Antonio, 78207, Texas, USA

    Nazrul Hoque

  2. , Arkansas Department of Health, Health Statistics Branch, West Markham Street, Slot 19 4815, Little Rock, 72205-3867, Arkansas, USA

    Mary A. McGehee

  3. , School of Public Health, The University of Texas, John Smith Drive, Suite 200 7411, San Antonio, 78229, Texas, USA

    Benjamin S. Bradshaw

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Murty, K.S., McCamey, J.D. (2013). Maternal Health and Maternal Mortality in Post War Liberia: A Survey Analysis. In: Hoque, N., McGehee, M., Bradshaw, B. (eds) Applied Demography and Public Health. Applied Demography Series, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6140-7_12

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