Search

Introduction Eclampsia is a leading cause of maternal mortality in developing countries like Nigeria. The Mother & Child Hospital Akure (MCHA), Ondo State, south-western Nigeria was established in February, 2010 as a State-funded tertiary facility which offered completely free maternal and child (0–5 years) care services from inception till December 2014. During this period, it institutionalised protocol management of eclamptics and became one of the busiest maternity centres in Nigeria. The resultant data could assist care providers and policy-makers in eradicating the scourge. Objectives Determine prevalence of eclampsia at the MCHA from 2010 to 2014. Determine its contribution to the facility-based maternal mortality ratios. Determine its case fatality rates (CFR) during period of study. Methodology This retrospective study was conducted in the MCHA. Data from February 2010 to December 2014 were retrieved from the medical records register and folders of patients. Analysis was through Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Results Total deliveries in the 5-year period of study was 30,031 increasing by 108% from 3,673 in 2010 to 7,634 in 2013 before dipping to 6,234 in 2014. Number of eclamptics treated was 384, from 56 in 2010 to 107 in 2012 (a 91% increase), before dipping to 74 and 58 in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The overall prevalence was 1.3% with a downward trend from 1.5% in 2010 to 0.9% in 2014. Eclampsia contributed 36 out of 115 (31%) maternal deaths while the CFR was 9.4%. Discussion This study’s CFR was among the lowest in Nigerian literature. It showed that offering free maternity services premised on protocol management could result in a steady reduction in number and prevalence of eclamptic cases after an initial spike, though the volume of deliveries could increase. It is recommended that the MCHA model be adopted in other tertiary maternity centres.