WHO · UNICEF · UN IGME 2024← All Countries

🇹🇩

Maternal & Child Mortality
in Chad

Central Africa · #5 of 30 worst globally

Child Deaths Since Jan 1, 2026

0

89.3 per 1,000 live births · Chad

Deaths at Birth Today

0

est. newborns today

Infant Mortality Rate

89.3

per 1,000 · 3.3× world avg

Maternal Mortality Rate

1,063

per 100,000 · 5.4× world avg

Central Africa

Birth Mortality Crisis

Mothers & Newborns
Dying in Chad
During Childbirth

Chad has the world's highest maternal mortality at 1,063 per 100,000 — roughly 1 in 15 women will die from pregnancy-related causes.

Newborn & Infant Mortality

89.3deaths per 1,000 live births

3.3× the world average

Maternal Mortality During Birth

1,063deaths per 100,000 live births

5.4× the world average

👶

Newborn & Child Deaths During Birth in Chad

Chad hosts over 600,000 refugees from Sudan and CAR, placing catastrophic pressure on health systems. Sahel location means extreme heat, recurring drought, and seasonal flooding.

Child mortality improved ~45% since 2000 but the pace has slowed since 2015.

Leading Causes of Child Death at Birth

Malaria26%

Neonatal causes26%

Diarrhoeal disease15%

Pneumonia13%

Other20%

* Neonatal deaths (first 28 days) represent the largest share of under-5 mortality.

What Happens in the Delivery Room

🏥

Births in a health facility~77%

estimated — lower in conflict/rural areas

👩‍⚕️

Skilled birth attendant present~33%

doctor, midwife or trained nurse

⚠️

Neonatal deaths (first 28 days)48%

of all under-5 deaths occur at birth

🩸

Most preventable with skilled care~75%

of child and maternal deaths

🤱

Maternal Mortality During Birth in Chad

Fewer than 500 doctors for 18 million people. Only 22% of births are attended by skilled health workers. Child marriage rate is among the world's highest — driving dangerous teenage pregnancies.

Improved from ~1,700 in 2000 to ~1,063 today, but remains the world's worst. Will not reach SDG target before 2150.

Causes of Death During Labour & Delivery

Haemorrhage36%

Eclampsia21%

Sepsis16%

Obstructed labour14%

Anaemia8%

Other5%

* Haemorrhage and eclampsia together cause over 50% of deaths — both are treatable with basic skilled care.

Why Mothers Die at Birth Here

🩺

Emergency obstetric care availableLimited

few facilities can manage haemorrhage

🩸

Blood transfusion accessCritical gap

haemorrhage kills within 2 hours

💊

Magnesium sulphate (eclampsia)Often absent

costs $1 — saves lives instantly

✅

If skilled care were universal~75% fewer deaths

WHO estimate for this mortality level

⚠️

Why Is This Still Happening?

Structural Barriers to Safe Birth in Chad

World's highest child marriage rate — 52% of girls married before 18

Severe shortage of health workers

Hosting 600,000+ refugees straining health infrastructure

Recurring drought and flooding in Sahel

Only 22% skilled birth attendance

🎯

SDG 3 Progress Assessment

Chad faces the largest absolute gap to SDG maternal mortality targets of any country on Earth.

💡

Prevention & Solutions

How Can We Prevent This in Chad?

📍 The Situation

Chad has the second-highest maternal mortality rate in this dataset — 1,063 deaths per 100,000 live births. A woman in Chad faces a 1-in-14 lifetime risk of dying from a pregnancy-related cause. The country has under 500 physicians for a population of 17 million, the vast majority concentrated in N'Djamena. Rural women typically walk hours to reach any form of healthcare.

🔬 How Ultrasound Helps

Chad's maternal death profile is almost entirely preventable with antenatal detection. Pre-eclampsia, placenta previa, and obstructed labour from undiagnosed malpresentation account for the majority of deaths. Portable POCUS — designed for low-resource settings, running on standard batteries with no maintenance infrastructure — can be deployed to village health centres operated by nurses trained through programs like GUSI's, and sustained with minimal ongoing cost.

🎓 The Training Gap

Chad requires a massive scale-up of antenatal care quality, not just quantity. Women attending four antenatal visits but receiving no ultrasound remain unscreened for the conditions that kill them. GUSI's OB POCUS training delivers the skills to make every antenatal visit a genuine screening encounter.

What a trained provider can detect with a portable ultrasound device

🩸Placenta previa

🔄Malpresentation

👥Twin pregnancy

📉Fetal growth restriction

⚡Pre-eclampsia markers

🫁Childhood pneumonia

💉Internal bleeding

🧠Hydrocephalus

🧮

Interactive Model

POCUS Impact Calculator — Chad

Model based on: 600 scans/provider/year · 15% high-risk detection rate · 47% mortality reduction for detected cases (Swanson et al. 2014 · WHO POCUS in LMICs review)

Number of POCUS-trained providers deployed in Chad50

1 provider250500 providers

Scans per Year

30,000

pregnant women screened

High-Risk Detected

4,500

flagged for referral / intervention

Maternal Deaths Prevented

72

mothers saved per year

Newborn Deaths Prevented

72

babies saved per year

Total Lives Saved Per Year

144deaths prevented

2.9

lives per provider

$172

est. cost per life saved

$24,750

total training investment

* This calculator uses a conservative evidence-based model. Actual impact varies by deployment context, provider experience, and health system capacity. Training cost based on GUSI OB POCUS Essentials (~$495/provider). Mortality reduction from peer-reviewed POCUS implementation studies in low-resource settings.

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Technology & Education

A Practical Plan to Bring POCUS to Chad

🗺️ Deployment Roadmap for Chad

Baseline assessment — map existing facilities, referral pathways, blood supply, and available midwives, nurses, and physicians who could be trained.
Provider training — enrol local champions in GUSI's OB POCUS Essentials + Pediatric POCUS courses. Certify a core group to train others.
Device procurement — select appropriate portable handheld devices based on power infrastructure, connectivity, and budget (see brands below).
Protocols & referral integration — define what to scan, what findings trigger referral, and how to document scans at the point of care.
Quality assurance — regular image review sessions, outcomes tracking, and refresher training to maintain competency.

📡 Recommended Portable Ultrasound Devices

🦋 Butterfly iQ+

Website →

Single-probe whole-body device covering OB, cardiac, lung, and FAST exams. App-based platform with built-in AI guidance. Designed for low-resource environments — charges via USB and works with any smartphone.

🔵 Philips Lumify

Website →

App-based probe that plugs into Android phones. Multiple transducer heads available for OB and point-of-care use. Widely used in GUSI-supported training programs globally.

🟢 GE Vscan Air

Website →

Wireless, pocket-sized dual-probe handheld. Streams live images to a smartphone app. Excellent battery life — purpose-built for rapid bedside OB and FAST-style assessments.

🔷 Clarius HD3

Website →

High-resolution wireless handheld. Multiple probe configurations available. Strong image quality in a compact form factor — suitable for OB, lung, and neonatal scanning.

Global Ultrasound Institute · GUSI

The training that closes the gap — built for providers in settings like Chad

GUSI trains physicians, nurses, midwives, and community health workers in Point-of-Care Ultrasound. Courses are designed from the ground up for providers in resource-limited settings — short, practical, competency-based, and available online or in person. Every course maps directly to the conditions killing mothers and babies during childbirth.