Although knowledge on the determinants and causes of maternal and perinatal deaths is well established and effective strategies to decrease such deaths exist and are in use, maternal and child mortality comprises the unfinished agenda of the Millennium Development Goals project.
In 2017 alone, 295,000 maternal and 2.5 million neonatal deaths were reported globally, 99% of them in low- and middle- income countries and from preventable causes. A maternal and perinatal death review is one of the key recommended strategies to decrease maternal and perinatal mortality by identifying cases and collecting relevant information permitting an effective response to prevent future deaths.
With the overall objective of guiding actions to eliminate preventable maternal mortality, by ensuring that every maternal death (both inside and outside facilities) is counted to assess progress and evaluate impact of interventions, maternal death surveillance and response (MDSR) is widely implemented in low and middle-income countries.