Abstract
Introduction: Maternal near misses are one of the quality indicators of obstetric care beside maternal deaths. According to United Nations Fund for Population Activity report in 2011, for each maternal death 20 others suffer due to maternal near misses in the world.
Objective: The study was aimed to assess the prevalence of maternal near misses and associated factors in Amhara Regional State Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia.
Methods: An Institution based cross sectional study was conducted from March 1, 2013 to
August 30, 2013. During the study systematically selected 806 mothers who visited the maternal health care services at three Amhara Regional State Referral Hospitals were included. The data were collected through face
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Exploring clients who survived life-threatening conditions provide a more complete assessment of quality in maternal health care [8-10].
The maternal near-miss concept suggested to be routinely used in national programs as a tool for evaluating the quality of maternal health care [11]. In addition, the near-miss indicators are indicators of outcome and provide an overall evaluation of the performance of the health service or health system in reducing severe maternal short-term outcomes [12]. In order to produce a more complete and even more tangible evaluation of quality of care, a set of process indicators were adapted and developed based on the criterion-based clinical audit concept which considers a feasible and beneficial mode of auditing the quality of maternal health care [13].
A country’s level of maternal near misses is indirect evidence that the health system is functioning well, health institutions are well organized & equipped, there are competent providers, emergency obstetric services are highly responsive, the care given to mothers is of high standard, and the referral system is functioning well[12]. On the other hand, the main drawbacks that lead to maternal near misses in institutions in the developing world