Monitoring and evaluation of safe motherhood programs Maternal mortality is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days

of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy,from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental causes. Indicators of maternal mortality Maternal mortality ratios : the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births Maternal mortality rates: the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 women aged 15-49 pe year and Lifetime risks: the probability of maternal death faced by an average woman over her entire reproductive lifespan. Althogh extremely valuable for advocacy purposes, these indicators are considered complex, difficult and costly to collect. Furthermore because of the many opportunities for misidentification and underreporting, they are often considered unreliable.