Introduction: This study analyzes hospital maternal death factors in six heath zones in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The objective of this study is to identify the determinants and the circumstances of the maternal deaths. Methodology: This study is descriptive and analyzes the content of the medical files and death review of the mother deaths occurred between 2009 and June 2014 in 22 referral hospitals of 6 zones of health of the province of the North Kivu in the East of the RDC. The data collected by binomials of well experimented nurses and physician about 74 mother deaths were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The hospital maternal mortality is high (106,9 deaths for 100.000 living Births). 87, 5% cases of maternal deaths arrived in time to the referral hospitals and 69,2% of cases were well taken in charge to the primary health level centers. On the other hand, the hospital care has been judged inadequate in 83,1 % of the cases, notably because of non-suitable medical and nursing care and limited availability either of the medicines and transfusion blood. The hemorrhage was the first reason of maternal death (63,4 % of the cases) and also the eclampsia (8,5%) and infections (7%). The indirect reasons were incriminated in less than 6% of the cases. Conclusion: The high level of hospital maternal deaths, the importance of the hemorrhages and limited medical and nurse competencies in maternal deaths, put in evidence the interest to reinforce the nurse and medical competencies and the clinical governance in reference hospitals.
Background: HIV infection continues to wreak havoc around the world. Women are not spared, especially pregnant women, with low levels of education or information, transmitting HIV to their children. This study aims to assess the level of knowledge of women in reproductive age on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV / AIDS in the AFIA-Sake health area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Method: This study is descriptive, involving 315 women aged 15-49 years from the AFIA-SAKE health area. The data collected by questionnaire were checked, captured and analyzed. The frequency of observations was calculated and the proportions were compared for accuracy when the CI was 95%. Results: The study shows that only 10% of women are aware of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Antenatal consultation is the excellent channel of communication. Among the women interviewed on antiretrovirals, 56% do not know when they will be given to pregnant women diagnosed with HIV; 63% do not know the value of administering antiretrovirals and 78% do not know when antiretrovirals will be given to the newborn. Conclusion: Achieving the goal of sustainable development for an HIV-free generation, with zero new infections in children and no HIV-related deaths, involves informing women of reproductive age about the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. HIV child through increased enrollment of girls, introduction of sex education as well as information on HIV in schools and antenatal clinics.