Abstract

PIP: Pregnancy outcome was studied in 672 women over a 1-year period in a rural area of Gambia where medical resources were very limited, prior to the introduction of a primary health care program. Maternal mortality was quite high (22/1000), primarily the result of postpartum hemorrhage and infections. Stillbirth and neonatal death rates were also very high (35 and 65/1000); prematurity and infections were the primary causes of neonatal deaths. First or late pregnancies, either prior to age 20 or after age 40, and multiple pregnancies were all associated with a poor pregnancy outcome. Women in these groups should therefore be encouraged by traditional birth attendants and by the staff of rural antenatal clinics to deliver at a health center or hospital.