Trends, measurements and indicators
Data on maternal mortality is fundamental to impact assessments of maternal health programmes, prioritisation of policies, and intervention strategies. However, collecting information on maternal deaths is difficult. Traditional methods such as household surveys or hospital records do not always provide accurate measures. Conducting surveys is also an expensive process. Alternative methods such as government records registering deaths or reviews of all female deaths are limited because maternal causes cannot be conclusively established.
Researchers currently use techniques such as the 'verbal autopsy' and the 'sisterhood method' which are believed to be fairly accurate and cost effective. A combination of techniques is usually recommended to get a complete picture of maternal deaths and their causes.
- Neonatal and perinatal mortality: country, regional and global estimates
- This report provides estimates of the number of deaths that occur during childbirth and the newborn period by country, regional groupings and globally. It describes different ways of measuring these death rates and explains the methods used to obtain the estimates. The results show that over four million babies die in the first four weeks of life and that more than 3.3 million babies are stillborn every year.
Recommended reading
- Neonatal mortality in the developing world
- ( K. Hill; Y. Choi / Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research , 2006)
- This paper, published in the journal Demographic Research, examines age patterns and trends of neonatal mortality in developing countries, using data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). It rev...
- How should we measure maternal mortality in the developing world?: a comparison of household deaths and sibling history approaches
- ( K. Hill; S. El Arifeen; M. Koenig / Bulletin of the World Health Organization : the International Journal of Public Health , 2006)
- Recommended reading
- This article, published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, compares two approaches to measuring the maternal mortality ratio (MMR). In the "sibling history" approach, adults are asked ...
- The right to count
- ( W. Graham; J. Hussein / The Lancet , 2004)
- This case report, published in the Lancet, examines the issue of under-reporting of maternal deaths in developing countries, and considers the implications for the UN Millennium Goal target of reducti...
Latest Additions
- Weak health systems obstruct progress towards achieving the MDGs for maternal and child health
- ( World Health Organization , 2008)
- This World Health Organization report tracks coverage for interventions needed to attain the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. The report is based on data drawn from national surveys and global da...
- The consequences of under-reporting births and deaths in Vietnam
- ( M. Malqvist;L. Eriksson;N. T. Nga / BMC International Health and Human Rights , 2008)
- This paper, published in BMC International Health and Human Rights, analyses to what extent births and neonatal deaths are unreported in Vietnam and discusses the consequences at local and internation...
