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The purpose of this indicator is to measure the maternal mortality ratio to assess progress towards achieving SDG Target 3.1, ‘Reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births’. This indicator provides essential data on maternal health and the safety of childbirth, which is critical for understanding the effectiveness of healthcare systems and identifying areas needing improvement to ensure safe pregnancies and deliveries. By monitoring this indicator, policymakers, stakeholders, and organizations can make informed decisions to promote sustainable development and address disparities in healthcare access, improve maternal care, and reduce preventable maternal deaths. This indicator helps to ensure that women, particularly those in marginalized or underserved populations, are included in efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, thereby contributing to the overall objective of sustainable, inclusive, and equitable growth. 

This indicator measures the maternal mortality ratio to monitor progress towards SDG Target 3.1, ‘Reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births’. It is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time-period per 100,000 live births during the same time-period. It depicts the risk of maternal death relative to the number of live births and essentially captures the risk of death in a single pregnancy (proxied by a single live birth). The relevance of this indicator lies in its ability to provide critical data on maternal health and the safety of childbirth, which is essential for understanding the effectiveness of healthcare systems and identifying areas needing improvement to ensure safe pregnancies and deliveries. The data for this indicator is collected through administrative reports, and it is calculated by dividing the recorded (or estimated) maternal deaths by the total recorded (or estimated) live births in the same period and multiplying by 100,000. By tracking this indicator, stakeholders can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of maternal health policies and programs, identify trends and disparities in maternal mortality rates, and prioritize interventions to improve maternal health outcomes, enabling them to make informed decisions to promote sustainable development and address disparities in healthcare access, improve maternal care, and reduce preventable maternal deaths.

Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW)

Annual

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births

Indicator definition - The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time-period per 100,000 live births during the same time-period. It depicts the risk of maternal death relative to the number of live births and essentially captures the risk of death in a single pregnancy (proxied by a single live birth).
Geographical coverage: National
Data collection method: Administrative reports. 
Data availability: Data is available from 2008 to 2023.

Maternal deaths are classified according to the International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD) definition. The specific codes used under ICD-10 (the 10th revision of the ICD) to define a maternal death are: O00-O96; O98, O99 and A34. 

ICD-11 (the 11th revision of the ICD) was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2019 and comes into effect on 1st January 2022. Further information is available at: www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/ The coding rules related to maternal mortality are being edited to fully match the new structure of ICD11, but without changing the resulting statistics. The ICD-11 rules can be accessed in the reference guide of ICD-11, at https://icd.who.int. Forthcoming releases from 2022 onwards will transition to use ICD-11 coding. Care has been taken to ensure that the definition of maternal death used for international comparison of mortality statistics remains stable over time, but the word “unintentional” has been used in the ICD-11 definition in place of the word “accidental” which was previously used, in ICD-10.

District

The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) can be calculated by dividing recorded (or estimated) maternal deaths by total recorded (or estimated) live births in the same period and multiplying by 100 000. Measurement requires information on pregnancy status, timing of death (during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy), and cause of death. 

The MMR can be calculated directly from data collected through vital registration systems, household surveys or other sources. There are often data quality problems, particularly related to the underreporting and misclassification of maternal deaths. Therefore, data are often adjusted in order to take these data quality issues into account. Some countries undertake these adjustments or corrections as part of specialized/confidential enquiries or administrative efforts embedded within maternal mortality monitoring programmes.

Policy Development: Use the data to inform and shape policies related to maternal health, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively.  

Program Planning and Implementation: Design and implement programs to improve maternal health outcomes, such as prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care, and postnatal support, based on the data to ensure effective and targeted interventions. 

Monitoring and Evaluation: Track progress towards SDG Target 3.1 and evaluate the effectiveness of maternal health programs and interventions. 

Advocacy and Awareness: Raise awareness about the importance of maternal health, the factors contributing to maternal mortality, and the need for access to quality maternal healthcare serves. 

International Comparisons: Compare progress in maternal health outcomes between countries, identifying successful strategies and interventions that can be replicated in other settings to accelerate progress towards reducing maternal mortality globally. 

Reporting and Accountability: Report progress to stakeholders, including governments and international organizations, to ensure accountability and transparency in achieving SDG Target 3.1.

All the metadata shown in this document was gathered from United Nation Statistics Division. The metadata was extracted from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.