title: Evaluation of maternal death surveillance: a community process.
abstract: The Mississippi State Department of Health found that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for evaluating surveillance systems could be used as a community approach in changing a maternal mortality surveillance system. This experience caused us to think more broadly about maternal mortality, challenge the guideline process, and ultimately embark on a new surveillance system. System changes included ensuring dissemination of findings, increasing number and type of stakeholders, including nonmedical factors, heightening awareness of maternal mortality, promoting timely reviews, reviewing our regulatory authority, adding field staff notification about maternal deaths, expanding the definition of maternal death, and combining surveillance systems-all of which leads to improved maternal mortality surveillance in Mississippi.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Reproductive Health, and Bureau of Women's Health, Mississippi State Department of Health, Jackson, Mississippi 39215-1700, USA. mzotti@msdh.state.ms.us
authors.forename: Marianne E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Zotti
authors.forename: Hazel D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Gaines
authors.forename: Corrie A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Moncrief
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D003644:Death Certificates; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008428:Maternal Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D008922:Mississippi / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D040442:Public Health Informatics / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States