Child and Maternal Mortality
in Islamic Countries
61
Figure 3.2. Trends in maternal mortality ratios, Bangladesh
Our analysis of maternal mortality differentials by women’s age shows that maternal mortality
risk is higher in older ages, which shows that reducing births in older ages (35 years and over)
are likely to reduce maternal mortality substantially.
When examined the trends of maternal mortality reduction in Bangladesh by socioeconomic
status, it suggests that MMRs reduced in all wealth quintile groups (Figure 3.4). Education level
of women shows an inverse association with the MMRs in Bangladesh (Figure 3.5).
In 2010, most maternal deaths in Bangladesh were caused by hemorrhage (31%), eclampsia
(20%), and obstructed labor (5.5%) among the direct causes; indirect causes (e.g., heart
diseases, anemia) were responsible for 35% of maternal deaths. The distribution of the direct
causes of maternal deaths in 2015 remains similar, with possible reductions of maternal deaths
due to indirect causes. It should be noted that the causes of maternal deaths were determined
by verbal autopsy method, which is subject to misclassification errors. The causes of about 8%
of maternal deaths could not be determined in 2015, that may also affect the correct
distributions of the other causes of maternal deaths.