Adolescent maternal mortality in Mozambique.
OBJECTIVE
To describe adolescent maternal mortality and analyze its avoidability.


METHODS
An audit approach was used to clarify the presence of avoidable factors in 239 maternal deaths, of which 22% were among adolescents.


RESULTS
The main causes of adolescent death were malaria, pregnancy-induced hypertension, puerperal sepsis, and septic abortion. The audit classified as avoidable 75% of all maternal deaths.


CONCLUSIONS
Adequate strategies addressing the special needs of adolescents are required to prevent currently high levels of maternal mortality in this age group.
Granja
A C
AC
Ministry of Health, Maputo, Mozambique.
Machungo
F
F
Gomes
A
A
Bergström
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000401:mortality; D008288:Malaria / Q000401:mortality; D008423:Maternal Age; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D009073:Mozambique / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000401:mortality*; D012189:Retrospective Studies