[Maternal mortality in Argentina]. / La mortalidad materna en la Argentina.

PIP: In Argentina, as in most countries, complications of pregnancy and delivery are important causes of mortality of fertile-age women. At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, governments agreed on the objective of promoting maternity without risk in order to reduce maternal mortality. Maternal mortality rates in many developing countries are much higher than the 10/100,000 live births in the most developed countries. Deficiencies in reporting due either to failure to report deaths or errors in the cause of death are a major impediment to study of maternal mortality. Two studies were conducted recently to provide more accurate data on maternal mortality in Argentina. A study carried out during 1987-89 was designed to measure underregistration of maternal mortality in the federal capital in 1985. Data from death registers were paired with the corresponding clinical histories. The true maternal mortality rate was found to be 91/100,000 rather than the official 50. 38% of maternal deaths rather than the previously estimated 57% were found to be due to complications of illegal abortion. The degree of underreporting in the federal capital, which has the highest proportion of hospital deliveries and most developed infrastructure, suggests that the maternal mortality rate is also much higher than official estimates in other parts of Argentina. Official estimates for 1993 showed a maternal mortality rate of 46/100,000, with very significant regional differentials. A study using the indirect sister survival method was conducted in a low income neighborhood of Zarate in 1991. 8041 persons in 1679 households were interviewed. The resulting estimate of 140/100,000 corresponded to the early 1980s.^ieng