Maternal Mortality in Ghana: the Other Side

According to recent global estimates, some 585,000 women die annually form pregnancy-related complications. Most of these deaths occur in the developing world. In Ghana, efforts to reduce the high maternal mortality rate (ranging from about 200 to 740 deaths per 100,000 live births) have given birth to the institutionalization of policies and programmes most of which derive their explanatory model form the medical perspective. However, the determinants of maternal mortality are a complex web of biology and culture. This paper presents the 'other side' of the story: a wider overview of the casual pathways by which simple interventions may produce the desired effect. (Institute of African Studies Research Review: 2003 19(1): 47-56)