the causes of maternal mortality in west azarbaijan-iran province during 2013-2020

Background & objective: maternal mortality is one of the most important health issues worldwide. therefore, the current study aimed to determine the causes of maternal mortality in west azarbaijan-iran province during 2013-2020. materials & methods: in this retrospective cross-sectional study, demographic data and information on maternal deaths (based on the pregnancy mortality surveillance system) were obtained from the treatment deputy of urmia university of medical sciences. the data were collected and analyzed in the west azarbaijan-iran province during the 2013-2020 years. results: over seven years, 102 maternal deaths occurred. the frequency of direct, indirect, and unknown causes of maternal mortality was 35.28%, 60.8%, and 3.92% respectively. among direct causes, the leading cause of maternal mortality was hemorrhage (23.52%) and sepsis was the next order (7.84%). in indirect causes, brain diseases had the highest frequency (18.9%). gestational age, place, and technique of delivery were highly related to the death causes (p<0.05). the mother's age (or: 1.14, 95% ci: 0.51-2.52), being rural (or:1.34, 95% ci: 0.57-3.15), and having a history of diseases (or:1.31, 95% ci: 0.59-2.89) were positively associated with the risk of infant’s mortality. while the gestational age (>37w) (or:0.047, 95% ci: 0.013-0.18, p<0.001) and high education level (or: 0.64, 95% ci: 0.27-1.57, p=0.33) were inversely correlated with an increased risk of infant mortality. conclusion: direct and indirect causes of hemorrhage were the most common cause of maternal death. gestational age, delivery place, and technique of delivery were significantly associated with the type of death causes.