Maternal mortality (cont.)

Definition and measures (cont.)

There are four measures of maternal mortality in common use and it is important to understand the differences between them. Confusion between the measures is common and misnaming the measures complicates things further.

Source: Trends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2010. WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and The World Bank estimates. http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/Trends_in_maternal_mortality_A4-1.pdf

It is the first three measures that will concern us in this session.

By far the most commonly quoted measure is the first – the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR). This is because it is the one that lends itself most easily to estimation from civil registration. Annoyingly it is often misnamed as the Maternal Mortality Rate, even in reports from bodies that should know better. It is not a rate, it is a ratio.

The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMRate) and the Lifetime Risk both need some demographic calculations to produce. This will be dealt with in a later section.

It is worth noting at this stage that that MMrate and MMR are linked by the level of fertility. If fertility is low then women are less exposed to maternal death – so lowering fertility lowers maternal mortality! This is not the only reason for reductions in mortality but it is an important reason. Reductions in fertility are a major reason, but not the only reason, why maternal mortality has been reducing steadily in Bangladesh.

MMR is calculated (in surveys) by dividing MMRate by the General Fertility Rate (GFR) – a demographic measure of fertility.  This is mentioned in a later section.