Korean J Perinatol.  2012 Sep;23(3):179-187.

Changes in Statistics of Maternal Death in Korea (1995-2010)

• Lee YJ
• Kim SH
• Seol HJ
• Chung SH
• Choi YS
• Lee KS
• Chang JY
• Choi JS
• Bae CW

Abstract

PURPOSE
In the past 15 years in Korea, there have been findings reporting a remarkable improvement in reduction of neonatal, infant, and perinatal mortality rates. Consequently, this study was conducted to examine the trends of maternal mortality ratio and observe if it has also improved over time.
METHODS
The trends of maternal deaths from 1995 to 2010 in Korea were analyzed based on the following materials: 1) surveys of maternal death rate conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (1995-2008), 2) statistical report of causes of death in Korea by Statistics Korea (2007-2010).
RESULTS
The number of maternal deaths and the maternal mortality ratio declined steadily from 1995 to 2010 in Korea; however, they have increased slightly since 2008. The direct maternal mortality ratio was reduced when comparing the direct proposition maternal death ratio of 16:4 in 1995 and of 9.1:5 in 2010. The maternal mortality ratio tended to be higher in women from 35-39 years old age group, 40 years or older. Gangwon province had the highest maternal mortality ratio of all provinces in Korea. In 2009, the average maternal mortality ratio for the OECD nations was 10.1 while it was 10.8 for Korea, a little higher than the OECD average.
CONCLUSION
Although the maternal mortality ratio improved by a significant reduction between 1995 and 2010 in Korea, the level is still about average for the OECD countries. It appears that even more efforts should be made to improve maternal mortality ratio compared to the progression in the areas of neonatal and infant mortality rates.

Keyword

Maternal death; Maternal death ratio; Epidemiology

MeSH Terms

Cause of Death
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant Mortality
Korea
Maternal Death
Maternal Mortality
Perinatal Mortality