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Number: 2007-18 Date Released: March 13, 2007

Maternal Mortality Slightly Declined, MDG Target May Not Be Achievable


(Preliminary Results from the 2006 Family Planning Survey)
For every 100,000 live births in the Philippines, 162 women die during pregnancy and childbirth or shortly after childbirth, according to the 2006 Family Planning Survey (FPS). This ratio of maternal deaths to live births, estimated from interviews with about 45,000 women in April 2006, is lower than the last available estimate of 172 deaths from the 1998 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Both estimates of the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) were made by asking women about the survivorship of their sisters and whether any deaths of sisters were maternity-related. Both estimates refer to 7-year period prior to the year the survey was conducted. The latest estimate refers to the period 1999-2006. The MMR is defined as the number of women who die from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes) during pregnancy and childbirth or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, per 100,000 live births. Estimates of MMR from the 1993 National Demographic Survey, the 1998 NDHS and the 2006 FPS imply decreasing maternal mortality in the Philippines: 209 per 100,000 live births for 19871993 to 172 per 100,000 for 1991-1997, to 162 per 100,000 for 1999-2006. Because maternal deaths are relatively rare, MMR estimates from sample surveys are subject to large sampling errors and differences in estimates are not always statistically significant. The apparent decline from 172 to 162 maternal deaths tends to reflect improvements in maternal health in the country but the difference is not statistically significant. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), agreed in 2000 by leaders of 189 countries, including the Philippines, call to reduce by three-quarters the number of maternal deaths globally between 1990 and 2015. For the Philippines, and using the 1993 NDS MMR as base estimate, the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015 should be equal to 53. The 2006 FPS MMR is a decrease of only 22 percent from the base estimate, meaning maternal health program implementers need to redouble efforts to achieve the desired MDG target on maternal mortality. The 2006 FPS also provides estimates of infant mortality rates (IMR) and under-five mortality rates (U-5MR). Estimates of IMR, the probability (expressed as rate per 1,000 live births) of a child born in a specified year dying before reaching the age of one year, if subjected to current age-specific mortality rates, showed 24 deaths per 1,000 for the 5 years preceding the survey. Among the regions, Zamboanga Peninsula exhibited the highest IMR (38 deaths per 1,000 live births) while Northern Mindanao had the lowest IMR with 16 deaths per 1,000 live births. The estimate of U-5MR, the probability (expressed as rate per 1,000 live births) of a child born in a specified year dying before reaching the age of five years, showed 32 deaths per 1,000 for the 5 years preceding the survey. The 2006 FPS is the tenth in a series of family planning surveys conducted nationwide by the NSO since 1995. Funding assistance for the 2006 FPS was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), The David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Technical assistance is from the International Programs Center of the United States Census Bureau.

Other important results and findings regarding family planning and maternal and child health will be presented in a data dissemination forum scheduled in April 2007.

(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA Administrator

Home Page Family Planning Statistics Index Page last updated: March 13, 2007

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