Women's sexual health and contraceptive needs after a severe obstetric complication ("near-miss"): a cohort study in Burkina Faso.

Background: Little is known about the reproductive health of women who survive obstetric complications in poor countries. Our aim was to determine how severe obstetric complications in Burkina Faso affect reproductive events in the first year postpartum.

Methods: Data were collected from a prospective cohort of women who either experienced life threatening (near-miss) pregnancy-related complications or an uncomplicated childbirth, followed from the end of pregnancy to one year postpartum or post-abortum.

Revealing the burden of maternal mortality: a probabilistic model for determining pregnancy-related causes of death from verbal autopsies.

Background: Substantial reductions in maternal mortality are called for in Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG-5), thus assuming that maternal mortality is measurable. A key difficulty is attributing causes of death for the many women who die unaided in developing countries. Verbal autopsy (VA) can elicit circumstances of death, but data need to be interpreted reliably and consistently to serve as global indicators.