Prevention of Maternal Deaths in Developing Countries-Reply

In Reply.—  Dr Campos-Outcalt has pointed out a significant problem in the perception of the problem of maternal mortality at the community level. It is true that exposure to a maternal death is a relatively rare event in comparison with deaths among infants and young children. Nonetheless, in most communities there are families in which one or more women have experienced difficult births with complications. As has been noted in recent studies in which women have been questioned about maternal deaths of sisters,¹ there are many families that know of a relative who died of pregnancy-related complications. Thus, health educational information directed at the community can play an important role in a strategy aimed at reducing maternal mortality.Having said that, it is true that effective interventions to reduce infant and childhood mortality can be directed at the community level, while, with the important exceptions of better female education