Exploring maternal mortality and associated factors in the Centre-East region of Burkina Faso: A case-control study

Maternal mortality remains a major public health issue in Burkina Faso. We analyzed data from the Centre-East health region, a setting with a high maternal mortality rate to identify the underlying driving factors. We conducted a case-control study with 1:2 matching ratio. Cases (deceased women) were randomly selected from a registry of maternal deaths, while the controls were selected from hospital logs of uncomplicated deliveries between January 1st, 2020, and June 30th, 2022. We fitted logistic regression to identify associated factors, considering differences significant when the 95% confidence intervals of the odds ratio do not include 1. Overall, among deceased women, 81% were referred, 33% were aged between 19 and 24 years, 82.4% were illiterate, 47% attended less than 4 antenatal care visits, and 39% came from the Ouargaye health district. Fever was associated with an increased odd of maternal death, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 2.94 (95%CI: 1.47-5.90). women with a normal coloration of conjunctivae during labor were less likely to die compared to those with conjunctival pallor: aOR =0.02 (95%CI: 0.004-0.11). These results suggest that preventing and treating fever and infections could help to reduce maternal deaths during delivery in the Centre-East region, Burkina Faso.