Caesarean section rate as a process indicator of safe motherhood programmes: the case of Midlands Province

Abstract

More than 10 years after the launch of the Safe Motherhood Initiative in 1987 in Kenya, many African countries still experience high levels of maternal mortality. Although this is recognized by most stakeholders in the field of reproductive health, it is difficult to give an exact figure to express the seriousness of the problem. The magnitude of maternal mortality is unknown, although various figures are circulating. The range of the maternal mortality figures reflects the variety of methods used to measure maternal mortality : vital statistics, hospital statistics or population based surveys.