MATERNAL MORTALITY IN EUROPE

Maternal mortality rates (or ratios) are widely used as one indicator of the quality of medical care. There has been concern that conclusion s may be drawn from unreliable data. A survey of practices in European countries confirms that there are differences in interpretation of de finitions and evidence of significant under-reporting in official retu rns of vital statistics. Actual and potential sources of error are ide ntified and a need for greater precision and uniformity of data collec tion is established.