Maternal Mortality: A Health Problem that is on its Way to Being Solved?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the level, trends, changes and structure of the specific causes of maternal mortality in Latin American countries. The author has reviewed information from the Pan-American Health Organization's files on mortality as well as those published by the United Nations. The analysis shows that the level of maternal mortality in countries in the region is usually high. Equally worrying are the few changes observed in the trends in the reasons for maternal mortality in most of these countries between 1988 and 1996. The level of maternal mortality reported is five to seven times higher than that recorded for the United States or Great Britain. Moreover, the heterogeneous causes of maternal mortality in the region reflects the unequal efforts in the struggle to combat this problem. The structure of maternal mortality by specific causes reflects the shortcomings regarding prenatal and delivery care, particularly as regards the early detection of pathologies such as toxemia and complications during the puerperium. It also points to the fact that abortion is a problem that requires the expansion of family planning actions. The author ends by reviewing the aspects that must be taken into ac- count when designing an integral response to the maternal mortality that continues to exist in the region.