Social Determinants of Maternal Mortality: A qualitative study in Balochistan

Abstract

Death of mothers related to pregnancy complication is a human rights violation because the causes of Maternal Mortality are preventable. Majority of the countries in the world have agreed to achieve Sustainable Development Goals target 3.1 by reducing maternal mortality ratio to 70 per 100,000 lives childbirth by 2030 but achieving target by countries with least human development and high gender gap like Pakistan will be only a false promise. The reasons behind hindrance of achieving target are institutional, political, economics, and socio-cultural. So, the present study was carried to explore the various social and cultural barriers responsible for death of mothers related to pregnancy complications. The study was qualitative in nature and thematic analysis approach was applied for analyzing the collected data. The areas of the study were all three districts, Kech, Panjgur, and Gwadar, of Makran Division, Balochistan. The researchers had conducted 15 Key Informant Interviews with family member of women died in pregnancy related complications. Three Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with Lady Health Workers (LHW) one in each district. Three gynecologists, and three individuals belonging to development sectors were interviewed. One from each group was belonged to each district of Makran. Researchers also interviewed 30 women (10 from each district) who were married and bear children in their lives, to know their point of views regarding the social causes of maternal mortality. Key Informant Interviews were used as method and semi-structured interview schedules were used as tools for data collection. The findings of the study suggests that various socio-cultural factors were responsible for the death of mothers. The study recommended that government should develop policies, enhancing mass awareness and provision of enough gynecologists and LHWs as well as enough health facilities in rural areas of Makran division for protection of mothers and reducing maternal mortality in the division.