LVASA SRS

Lagos State Verbal and Social Autopsy Sample Registration System of Maternal Deaths and Stillbirths as Impact Prototype (LVASA-SRS)

The Problem

Nigeria bears a significant burden of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa and world wide.

The most recent MMR point estimate in Nigeria is 1,047 per 100,000 live births, ranking among the worst in the world, with 1 in 19 women at risk of dying from a pregnancy-related event.

Despite the legal provision for compulsory registration of all deaths within 30 days of occurrence through the CRVS system, Nigeria faces a significant challenge with low utilization of this system. The absence of reliable data undermines the country’s ability to estimate the true magnitude and the underlying causes of maternal deaths consequently hindering effective decision and policymaking.

Our Solution

To establish a state-wide SRS to collect data on vital events in Lagos State to enable the study of key health and demographic outcomes including maternal deaths and stillbirths. It will also serve as a prototype for the establishment of SRS in other areas in Nigeria in future

To generate maternal and newborn health data needed for public health decision-making: The data obtained from this study will provide previously lacking epidemiological data which will drive evidence-based public health policy-making decisions.

To determine and direct interventions that are to be focused on the main cause of maternal deaths while ensuring the appropriate use of scarce resources. This will be accomplished through the determination of the most common cause of maternal deaths including excessive bleeding, postpartum infections, pre-eclampsia, and eclampsia, delivery complications and unsafe abortion

To develop and undertake focused community public enlightenment and engagement programs

Reports

Estimates of Maternal Mortality and Stillbirths and Causes of Maternal Mortality in Lagos State.

The Lagos State Verbal and Social Autopsy - Sample Registration System (LVASA-SRS) is a Gates Foundation-funded initiative implemented by a consortium led by the Centre for Clinical Trials, Research and Implementation Science (CCTRIS).

The project involved household mapping and listing a total of 127,039 households across 1,911 enumeration areas (EAs), identification of 5,020 pregnant women, 7,217 live births, 61 maternal deaths, and 291 stillbirths that occurred between March 2023 (one year before commencement) and February 2025, and conduct of Verbal Autopsy (VA) and Social Autopsy (SA) interviews for identified maternal deaths.

The project generated reliable and updated estimates of maternal deaths and stillbirths, understood their clinical causes and social determinants, and further aims to strengthen the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and (MPDSR) system in Lagos State.