The strategy of community counselling combined with health education in reducing the maternal mortality rate

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47648/zhswmcj.2021.v0302.05

Hossain Mohammad Zafor1 , Shadman Sahir Ahmed2 , Sarder Rayhan Sadique3

Abstract

The current health-care delivery in Bangladesh only considers pharmacological approach to every/curing patient with physical illness. The effectiveness of community counselling on public health outcome is undeniable. In addition to associated heath and socio-economic factors, this complication contributes to increased maternal mortality rate in Bangladesh significantly. The objective was to find beside therapeutic treatment can “effective counselling and health education” reduce maternal mortality rate due to eclampsia/pre-eclampsia. This was a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 110 aged between 15 and 35 years were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. The frequencies of the different variables were analyzed using SPSS 20 software, and the Chi-square test was done to observe the associations. The average age of the participants was 23 years. Over 40% of the women had their first delivery between the ages of 16–18 years and the same percentage of them had never taken antenatal checkup during their pregnancy. Gestational hypertension/pre-eclampsia was found in nearly 35% and eclampsia in 20% of the women. Previous maternal mortality cases before March, 2017 due to eclampsia in the sample community was 8 cases. Over a period of five months by early detection of cases, no maternal death was recorded due to eclampsia/ pre-eclampsia among the studied community after extensive counselling and health education. Despite the common therapeutic treatment for gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia/eclampsia community counseling demonstrates significant impact on reducing mortality rate and strongly supports the association of community counselling and health education on reducing maternal mortality cases.

Keywords: Maternal mortality, eclampsia/pre-eclampsia, community counseling.


  1. Sexual & Reproductive Health Trainer

    Handicap International

  2. Lecturer, Department of Marketing and International Business

    North South University, Dhaka

  3. Lecturer, Biochemistry

    National Medical College & Hospital


Volume 3, Number 2, July 2021
Page: 21-25