[Maternal mortality in West Africa: risk, rates, and rationale]

New information has been collected about maternal mortality which is becoming better known in the West African countries. However, estimated rates for these countries still exhibit wide discrepancies related to the methods used. The purpose of the present work was to describe the principal methods which can be used to estimate rates and to present the results observed in the six countries of the MOMA survey. Obstetrical causes of maternal death and their substandard care, pointed out by the audit carried out during the survey, are presented and discussed.