A second progress report on maternal mortality in South Iran is presented. The maternal mortality rate among hospitalized women for the period 1970 to 1976 was 248.7/100 000 live births, which was significantly lower than the rate for the period from 1963 to 1969 (391.8/100 000). However, the overall distribution of diseases leading to death remains unchanged. The causes of death were classified as direct obstetric in 60.4% of the cases, indirect obstetric in 13.5% and unrelated to obstetric events in 26.0%. Infection was the leading cause of death in all categories. Among the direct obstetric causes, hemorrhage, pulmonary embolism and eclampsia were the major causes of death. About 76% of the patients were from rural districts and 24% from urban areas. None of the mothers had antenatal care.
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