Mortalidad materna en Ambato, Ecuador. 2005-2014

Introduction: Maternal mortality (MM) is one of the health indicators that most clearly demonstrates gender inequality in decision-making and social exclusion, since it demands urgent medical intervention aimed at preventing death. Objective: To expose the magnitude and trend of MM in Ambato between 2005 and 2014. Materials and methods: Observational, descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study of maternal deaths in Ambato between 2005 and 2014. The study universe consisted of 46 maternal deaths and 51 947 live births. Results: There was a significant increase in the birth rate (r=0.652, p=0.041) and in the number of live births with professional assistance (r=0.894, p=0.000). The cumulative MM ratio in the period was 88.6, with a non-significant downward trend (r=0.12 p=0.743). Hypertensive disease of pregnancy was the first direct cause of MM (n=17, 41.5%). Conclusions: Birth rates have been on the rise and the trend of MM over 10 years has not shown significant changes. Hypertensive disease of pregnancy remains the main cause of MM.