BACKGROUND: Maternal mortality is the reflection of the Health care services and the support of the society to the
women. Maternal mortality is usually ascribed to complications that generally occur during or around labour and cannot
be predicted. The major causes of maternal mortality are hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and sepsis.
All those causes are preventable through early identification and prompt treatment.
METHOD: This Retrospective analysis was done for the maternal deaths occurred in Chengalpattu District from April 2017
to March 2022.
RESULTS : A fluctuating trend is being observed. MMR is peak in last 2 years. It was 18.96 during the period April 2019
to March 2020. Higher proportion of maternal deaths (64.6%) has occurred in the age group of 21 – 30 yrs. Majority of
maternal deaths (74.7 %) have occurred in Government Medical College Hospital. Larger proportion of maternal deaths
(69.6%) has occurred during the postnatal period. Majority of the deaths (43%) have occurred in post LSCS period. Major
proportions of maternal deaths (55.7%) have occurred among the multigravida mothers. Among 57 deliveries majority
(55.7%) of the birth were live birth. Majority of the maternal deaths (64.6%) are due to direct cause, which is highly
preventable. Higher proportions of maternal deaths (31.4%) are due to PPH. Majority of maternal deaths (60.7%) are due
to Covid followed by Heart disease complicating pregnancy (10.7%) and Anaemia (7.1%)
CONCLUSION : Overall Maternal mortality was 54.97/100000 live births. Last 2 years maternal mortality was high due to
covid pandemic. The leading cause for maternal death in the District is hemorrhage followed by hypertensive disorders
of pregnancy. These direct causes of deaths are potentially preventable by optimum utilization of existing MCH facilities,
identif ying the bottlenecks in health care delivery system, early identification of high risk pregnancies and complications
and timely referral to tertiary care centre.