Maternal mortality surveillance--Puerto Rico, 1989.

Maternal mortality is substantially underreported in the United States and throughout the world. In Puerto Rico, the 1989 revised death certificate contained a new item that asked whether a decedent had been pregnant within the past year. This information enabled a panel of experts to identify and review all death certificates for females aged 10-49 years who had been pregnant within 1 year before death. This report describes how the new item on the birth certificate can be used to improve maternal mortality surveillance in Puerto Rico.