[Role of abortion and ectopic pregnancies in maternal mortality rate at three university hospitals in Yaoundé].

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 585.000 women die every year in the world as a result of complications related to pregnancy, delivery, postpartum period and abortion (the latter contributing to 13% of maternal deaths). Ectopic pregnancies are responsible for 10% of maternal mortality in the first quarter of pregnancy.

Training health professionals in conducting maternal death reviews.

In countries where maternal death review (MDR) sessions are proposed as an intervention to improve quality of obstetric care, training focuses on the theory behind this method. However, experience shows that health staff lack confidence to apply the theory if they have not attended a practical training session. To address this problem, a training curriculum based on the new guidelines from the FIGO Leadership in Obstetrics and Gynecology for Impact and Change (LOGIC) Initiative for preparing and conducting MDR sessions was designed and tested in Cameroon.

Outcome of deliveries among adolescent girls at the Yaoundé central hospital.

Background: Adolescent pregnancies are a growing public health problem in Cameroon. We sought to study the outcome of such pregnancies, in order to inform public health action.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 5997 deliveries which compared the outcome of deliveries in adolescent (10-19 years old) pregnant women registered at the Yaoundé Central Hospital between 2008 and 2010 to that of their non-adolescent adult (≥ 20 years old) counterparts.