[Analysis of national maternal death surveillance: 1989-1991]

An analysis of maternal mortality in 247 cities, districts and countries of 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regionscovering a population of 100,000,000 in China in 1989-1991 was reported. The total number of live births was 4,201,457 in the pilot area, and the number of maternal deaths was 3,274 giving an average maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 80.0/100,000. After correction, the average MMR was 87.8/100,000. The MMR per annum was in decreasing trends and in different regions were different from one another. The first 6 leading causes of maternal deaths in 3,274 cases, in decreasing order of importance, were: obstetric hemorrhage, pregnancy induced hypertension, cardiac diseases, puerperal infection, amniotic fluid embolism, and hepatic diseases. The result of audit on maternal deaths was as follow: 89.0% of the maternal deaths were avoidable, and 11.0% were unavoidable. Three aspects of the maternal deaths in China were formulated form this study.