Reducing inequities in maternal and child health in rural Guatemala through the CBIO+ Approach of Curamericas: 5. Mortality assessment

• Published in: International journal for equity in health Vol. 21; no. Suppl 2; pp. 198 - 31
• Main Authors: Perry, Henry B, Stollak, Ira, Llanque, Ramiro, Okari, Annah, Westgate, Carey C, Shindhelm, Alexis, Chou, Victoria B, Valdez, Mario
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 28.02.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Autopsies; Birthing centers; Births; Care and treatment; Censuses; Child; Child Health; Child mortality; Childbirth; Children; Children & youth; Childrens health; Community health; Diagnosis; Families & family life; Family; Fatalities; Female; Guatemala - epidemiology; Health aspects; Hemorrhage; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Maternal & child health; Maternal health; Maternal mortality; Mortality; Mortality assessment; Mothers; Neonates; Patient outcomes; Performance evaluation; Pneumonia; Pneumonia in children; Postpartum; Postpartum Hemorrhage; Pregnancy; Risk factors; Rural areas; Sepsis; Western Hemisphere; Womens health; Guatemala; Primary health care; Census-Based, Impact-Oriented Approach; Equity; Mortality assessment; Care Groups; Community-based primary health care; Implementation research; Maternal mortality; Community birthing centers; Child health; Guatemala; Community health; Curamericas/Guatemala; Child mortality; Curamericas Global; Maternal health
• ISSN: 1475-9276; 1475-9276
• DOI: 10.1186/s12939-022-01757-7

The Curamericas/Guatemala Maternal and Child Health Project, 2011-2015, implemented the Census-Based, Impact-Oriented Approach, the Care Group Approach, and the Community Birthing Center Approach. Together, this expanded set of approaches is known as CBIO+. This is the fifth of 10 papers in our supplement describing the Project and the effectiveness of the CBIO+ Approach. This paper assesses causes, levels, and risk factors for mortality along with changes in mortality. The Project maintained Vital Events Registers and conducted verbal autopsies for all deaths of women of reproductive age and under-5 children. Mortality rates and causes of death were derived from these data. To increase the robustness of our findings, we also indirectly estimated mortality decline using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST). The leading causes of maternal and under-5 mortality were postpartum hemorrhage and pneumonia, respectively. Home births were associated with an eight-fold increased risk of both maternal (p = 0.01) and neonatal (p = 0.00) mortality. The analysis of vital events data indicated that maternal mortality declined from 632 deaths per 100,000 live births in Years 1 and 2 to 257 deaths per 100,000 live birth in Years 3 and 4, a decline of 59.1%. The vital events data revealed no observable decline in neonatal or under-5 mortality. However, the 12-59-month mortality rate declined from 9 deaths per 1000 live births in the first three years of the Project to 2 deaths per 1000 live births in the final year. The LiST model estimated a net decline of 12, 5, and 22% for maternal, neonatal and under-5 mortality, respectively. The baseline maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest in the Western hemisphere. There is strong evidence of a decline in maternal mortality in the Project Area. The evidence of a decline in neonatal and under-5 mortality is less robust. Childhood pneumonia and neonatal conditions were the leading causes of under-5 mortality. Expanding access to evidence-based community-based interventions for (1) prevention of postpartum hemorrhage, (2) home-based neonatal care, and (3) management of childhood pneumonia could help further reduce mortality in the Project Area and in similar areas of Guatemala and beyond.