Identifying Pregnancy Deaths in the United States: Vital Statistics and Surveillance Systems

• Activity Number: 316
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Biometrics Section
• Author(s): Andrea P. MacKay*+
• Companies: National Center for Health Statistics
• Keywords: maternal ; mortality ; vital statistics ; surveillance ; pregnancy

Abstract

Maternal deaths are reported by two CDC systems: the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System (PMSS). The number of deaths reported has differed between systems over the past 25 years. Our objective was to ascertain the reasons for the differences and report a revised US maternal mortality ratio for 1999-2004. We matched deaths in PMSS and NVSS by death certificate number. We used information from pregnancy check boxes, matched live birth certificates, and other sources to establish the temporal relationship of each death to pregnancy. We reviewed causes of death, excluding deaths that did not meet the WHO maternal death definition. There were 3,842 maternal deaths; 60% were reported by both systems and 33% were in PMSS only. The WHO 42-day maternal mortality ratio for the US was 13.2/100,000 live births; the 1-year ratio was 15.8/100,000.