Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO), “A maternal death is defined as death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes”. Maternal mortality is considered a key health indicator and the direct causes of maternal deaths are well known and largely preventable and treatable. Methods: A retrospective study which was conducted in the Department of OBG, Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi by analyzing the maternal death which occurred during the period of January 2019 to December 2020. Data was collected from facility based maternal death review forms and death summary of each maternal mortality case. Results: In the our study, total of 66 maternal death were analyzed-maternal mortality ratio was 354 per 1-lakh live births. Most deaths occurred in the age group of 20-30 years (81.8%), 60.59% of deaths occurred within 24-hours after admission. Hypertensive disorders (28.78%), hemorrhage (22.72%) and sepsis (12.12%) are the most common direct causes of maternal mortality. Anemia and other medical disorders with cardiac diseases being important indirect causes of maternal mortality. Conclusions: Our center being a tertiary care teaching hospital, patients are referred from periphery and private hospitals. Maternal mortality was found to be on higher side. Proper referral services, prompt implementation of government policies with community participation are needed to prevent maternal deaths.

Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO), “A maternal death is defined as death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes”. Maternal mortality is considered a key health indicator and the direct causes of maternal deaths are well known and largely preventable and treatable. Methods: A retrospective study which was conducted in the Department of OBG, Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi by analyzing the maternal death which occurred during the period of January 2019 to December 2020. Data was collected from facility based maternal death review forms and death summary of each maternal mortality case. Results: In the our study, total of 66 maternal death were analyzed-maternal mortality ratio was 354 per 1-lakh live births. Most deaths occurred in the age group of 20-30 years (81.8%), 60.59% of deaths occurred within 24-hours after admission. Hypertensive disorders (28.78%), hemorrhage (22.72%) and sepsis (12.12%) are the most common direct causes of maternal mortality. Anemia and other medical disorders with cardiac diseases being important indirect causes of maternal mortality. Conclusions: Our center being a tertiary care teaching hospital, patients are referred from periphery and private hospitals. Maternal mortality was found to be on higher side. Proper referral services, prompt implementation of government policies with community participation are needed to prevent maternal deaths.