Maternal mortality in Latin America urban areas: The case of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

This article describes maternal mortality trends in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 1960 through 1990. In so doing, it compares mortality rates derived from death certificate data with rates suggested by three independent surveys conducted in the city of Sao Paulo in 1962-1963, 1974-1975, and 1986. In general, these data indicate that a substantial share of all maternal deaths in the city have been ascribed to other causes on death certificates, that prevailing maternal mortality levels are far higher than those found in the urban areas of most developed countries, and that in recent years levels of maternal mortality in the city have been rising. Various measures are suggested for improving the accuracy of available data and reducing the maternal mortality they describe

This article will also be published in Spanish in the Bol. Oficina Sanit. Panam. Vol 115, No. 6