Malawi 2015-16

Trends: Table 15.3 shows the probability of dying between exact ages 15 and 50, 35 q 15 . That is, 35 q 15 is
the probability of a 15-year-old woman or man dying before age 50, if age specific death rates in the 7
years before the survey are held constant. The 2015-16 MDHS data show that women compared to men
have lower probabilities: 184 of 1,000 women age 15 and 218 of 1,000 men age 15 would be expected to
die before age 50.
Since 2000, the probability of dying between exact ages 15 and 50 has declined significantly from 373 per
1,000 women age 15 in the 7 years before 2000 to 184 per 1,000 women age 15 in 7 years before 2015-16
and from 391 per 1,000 men age 15 to 218 per 1,000 men age 15 in the same time period.
15.3 DIRECT ESTIMATES OF MATERNAL MORTALITY
Maternal mortality rate
The number of maternal deaths per 1,000 women age 15-49. Maternal
mortality rates by 5-year age groups are calculated by dividing the number of
maternal deaths to female siblings of respondents in each age group by the
total person-years of exposure of the sisters to the risk of dying in that age
group during the 7 years before the survey. The number of deaths is the
number of sisters reported as having died during pregnancy or delivery, or in
the 42 days following the delivery in the specified period by their age group at
the time of death; deaths due to accident or violence are excluded. The
person-years of exposure in each age group are calculated for both surviving
and dead sisters based on their reported current age (living sisters) or age at
death and years since death (dead sisters).
Sample: Sisters (both living and dead) age 15-49 in the specified period, by
5-year age groups
Maternal mortality ratio
The number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The maternal mortality
ratio is calculated by dividing the age-standardised maternal mortality rate for
women age 15-49 for the specified period by the general fertility rate (GFR) for
the same time period.
Maternal deaths are a subset of all female deaths, and are defined as any deaths that occur during
pregnancy or childbirth, or within 42 days after the birth or termination of a pregnancy. Maternal deaths do
not include deaths from accidents or violence. Two methods are generally used to estimate maternal
mortality in developing countries: the indirect sisterhood method (Graham et al. 1989) and a direct variant
of the sisterhood method (Rutenberg and Sullivan 1991; Stanton et al. 1997). Table 15.4 presents direct
estimates of maternal mortality for the seven-year period before the 2015-16 MDHS. It is important to note
that the definition of maternal mortality has changed since the last survey. Thus, the current estimate of
maternal mortality is not directly comparable to prior estimates. Information on assessing the trend in the
maternal mortality estimates is provided in section 15.4 below.
• The maternal mortality rate among women age 15-49 is 0.7 maternal deaths per 1,000 woman-years of
exposure.
• The estimated age-specific maternal mortality rate is highest among age 30-34 (1.3) and lowest among
women age 15-19 and 45-49 (0.25 in each age group). However, age-specific mortality patterns should
be interpreted with caution because there were only 198 maternal deaths in the 7-year period before
the survey.
• Maternal deaths accounted for 16% of all deaths to women age 15-49.
• At current fertility and mortality rates, 2% of the women in Malawi will die from maternal causes
during their reproductive lifetime.
Adult and Maternal Mortality • 247