Maternal mortality trends in the Sfax region from 1979 to 2000

We report a retrospective study about maternal mortality in Sfax (Tunisia) between 1979 and 2000. Maternal mortality rate has fallen strikingly from 76.8 per 100,000 mortality cases in 1979 to 40.1 per 100,000 mortality cases in 20,000. However deaths from unavoidable causes have fallen much more slowly than avoidable causes.