title: Maternal mortality surveillance--Puerto Rico, 1989.
abstract: Maternal mortality is substantially underreported in the United States and throughout the world. In Puerto Rico, the 1989 revised death certificate contained a new item that asked whether a decedent had been pregnant within the past year. This information enabled a panel of experts to identify and review all death certificates for females aged 10-49 years who had been pregnant within 1 year before death. This report describes how the new item on the birth certificate can be used to improve maternal mortality surveillance in Puerto Rico.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology