The Contribution of Census Data in Maternal Mortality Estimation: A Descriptive Analysis

Sahar M A Ahmed, Centre d'Estudis Demografics
Greg Guranich, World Health Organization
Jenny A Cresswell, World Health Organization

This study assesses the contribution of censuses to maternal mortality estimates using data from 45 censuses across 39 countries. It compares the proportion maternal (PM)—the share of deaths among women of reproductive age due to maternal causes—reported in censuses with estimates from the Demographic and Health Surveys, and estimates of the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) . Findings indicate the importance of census data for maternal mortality estimation in data-scarce settings. Additionally, we find that census PM often exceeds MMEIG estimates, with notable discrepancies in two countries. Despite the reliance on census data from these underrepresented regions, excluding such data from analyses showed minimal impact on overall PM estimates, though slight variances were observed in countries with fewer alternative data sources. This highlights the importance of integrating diverse data sources to enhance maternal mortality assessments in regions traditionally marked by data scarcity.