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<p><u><strong>Short Name</strong></u><br>
Maternal mortality ratio<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Full Name</strong></u><br>
Number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time period.<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Domain</strong></u><br>
Sexual and reproductive health<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Sub-domain</strong></u><br>
Maternal and newborn health<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Tags</strong></u><br>
End preventable maternal deaths, Latin America and the Caribbean Key Indicators, Montevideo Consensus, SDG Target 3.1<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Definition</strong></u><br>
Number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time period. It depicts the risk of maternal death relative to the number of live births and essentially captures the risk of death in a single pregnancy (proxied by a single live birth).<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Method of Calculation</strong></u><br>
The maternal mortality ratio can be calculated by dividing recorded (or estimated) maternal deaths by total recorded (or estimated) live births in the same period and multiplying by 100 000. Measurement requires information on pregnancy status, timing of death (during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy), and cause of death.
The maternal mortality ratio can be calculated directly from data collected through vital registration systems, household surveys or other sources. There are often data quality problems, particularly related to the underreporting and misclassification of maternal deaths. Therefore, data are often adjusted in order to take these data quality issues into account. Some countries undertake these adjustments or corrections as part of specialized/confidential enquiries or administrative efforts embedded within maternal mortality monitoring programmes.
Maternal death is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management (from direct or indirect obstetric death), but not from unintentional or incidental causes.
<br><em>Data source specific method of calculation:</em><br>
<br><strong>DHS:</strong><br> <br><em>Numerator:</em><br> Total maternal mortality rate for the period.
<br><em>Denominator:</em><br> Age-adjusted general fertility rate (GFR) for the same time period. <br><em>Calculation:</em><br> The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) are calculated by dividing the total maternal mortality rate by the general fertility rate for the same period and are expressed per 100,000 births. Note that the general fertility rate is age-standardized by multiplying the age-specific fertility rates by the proportion of women surveyed in each age group, and then summing the products. The general fertility rate is calculated for the same time period as for the pregnancy-related mortality rate and the maternal mortality rate.
For maternal mortality, a survey such as DHS cannot capture the definition of maternal mortality precisely due to the complexity of the issues, but limits the period following termination of pregnancy to 42 days, and, as a proxy for the accidental or incidental causes, excludes deaths reported due to accidents or violence. The DHS adult and maternal mortality module collects information from respondents about the maternal status of the death of their sisters born to the same mother by asking if the sister died while pregnant, during delivery or within two months after the end of a pregnancy or a childbirth. Younger (and male) respondents may not know that their older sister was even pregnant if the sister was several years older or died during pregnancy or from an induced abortion, thus biasing pregnancy-related and maternal mortality rates downward. Women who intend to have an induced abortion may also not disclose their pregnancy status to family members. On the other hand, deaths due to non-maternal causes, such as accidents and illnesses, will be included as pregnancy-related deaths if they occurred during pregnancy or within two months after the end of the pregnancy or childbirth. Simulation models show that up to one-third of classified as pregnancy-related may not be due to maternal causes, resulting in an upward bias. The final result of both these biases, which operate simultaneously, is unknown. Another important issue is location. The DHS does not collect information on the residence of neither sisters who died nor of the residence during the exposure period of both living and dead sisters. The residence at the time of interview of respondents is not necessarily the same as that of their sisters. Therefore, DHS usually does not publish pregnancy-related and maternal mortality rates by area. Expressed per 100,000 live births; calculated as the age-adjusted maternal mortality rate times 100 divided by the age-adjusted general fertility rate. Maternal mortality rates and ratios are subject to high levels of relative sampling error due to their relatively rare occurrence. For example, a maternal mortality ratio of 500 maternal deaths per 100,000 births has the same sampling error as an infant mortality rate of 5 infant deaths per 1000 births. For a sample of about 15,000 respondents, the 95% confidence interval of the MMR would be about 406 to 594 maternal deaths per 100,000 births.<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Expected Frequency of Data Dissemination</strong></u><br>
Annual<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Geospatial Dimension Availability</strong></u><br>
Country (geolev0), Landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), SDG Regions, SDG Sub-Regions, Small island developing States (SIDS), World<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Time Dimension Availability</strong></u><br>
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020<br></p>
<p><u><strong>Disaggregation Dimension Availability</strong></u><br>
Sex: <em>Female</em><br></p>
<p><u><strong>References</strong></u><br>
SDG Indicator 3.1.1 metadata: <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-03-01-01.pdf">Link</a><br></p> |