[Maternal mortality in the state of Paraíba-Brazil: association between variables]

Maternal mortality has been established as one of the priority problems of public health, directly affecting women in the pregnant puerperal cycle and belonging to underprivileged social classes. Considering this situation, the aim of the present study was to identify associations between the race of women living in the state of Paraíba and age, educational level and type of death of women who died of maternal death in the period 2000 to 2004. This cross-sectional study used as a source of data declarations of 109 maternal deaths. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the association between variables using multiple logistic regression. The odds ratio to investigate the association between variables was calculated. It was observed that there was no statistical significance between race and age variables or with educational level, but there was significant evidence that nonwhite women from Paraíba were more likely to die from direct obstetric death than white women, (OR = 3.55; IC: 1.20-10.5). The results showed that the risk of maternal mortality in Paraiba was higher among non-white women, revealing an important expression of social inequality.