Chief Medical Statistician Ms Baakai Kamoriki

THE 2016 Ministry of Health and Medical Services 2016 report has highlighted that an average of one woman dies every three weeks due to complications with pregnancy and during childbirth.

Presenting the 2016 Key Health Indicators of the Ministry, Chief Medical Statistician Ms Baakai Kamoriki said the National Referral Hospital has the highest record of maternal deaths seconded by Malaita province followed by Guadalcanal province.

She said one out of three births in the country takes place at the National Referral Hospital with around 90 percent of all births occurring at a health facility.

Ms Kamoriki said the maternal record has decreased in 2015 – 2016 however unsupervised deliveries, birth before arrival and skilled based attendants need improvement.

“Although this decline is encouraging, mortality rate is not yet in line with the country’s target,” she said.

Ms Kamoriki said unsupervised deliveries and maternal death have increased in 2015-2016 and were distributed according to provinces.

She said Guadalcanal province has the highest record of unsupervised deliveries and maternal deaths in 2016.

Ms Kamoriki said birth before arrival has decrease 30 percent in Malaita province but rose by 10 percent in Guadalcanal province.

She further explained that number of village births in Malaita went down by 20 percent, increased by 23 percent in Choiseul and rose by 26 percent in Western Province.

Ms Kamoriki said Guadalcanal and Choiseul provinces have improved in average number of antenatal visit while Western Province suffers a declining trend.

Giving an overview of infant and child deaths record, she said Choiseul province has tripled the number of infant and child deaths together with neo-natal mortality which has increased by 226 percent in 2016.