Maternal mortality among the Kassena-Nankana of northern Ghana

This report presents key findings from a maternal mortality study conducted in the Kassena-Nankana District of northern Ghana in 1997-98. Sibling hist ory data collected in the course of this survey are analyzed together with longitudinal data from the Navrongo Demographic Surveillance System (NDSS). A comparison between mortality data from these two sources indicates that obtaining reasonably accurate estimates of age-specific death rates is poss ible by using the sisterhood method. Direct and indirect estimates from the maternal mortality study and the NDSS suggest a decline in the maternal mo rtality ratio for the Kassena-Nankana District from 800 to 600 maternal dea ths per 100,000 live births over the past 14 years.