In Brazil, there is a lack of complete records on death certificates, and its reliability is questioned, especially for causes attributed to pregnancy and childbirth. We investigated, based on death certificates of women in reproductive age, any fields for identifying maternal deaths. Documentary research, conducted in hospital records. We analyzed in death certificates, maternal and no maternal deaths, inconclusive deaths and hidden deaths. To analyze the underlying causes of death we used ICD 10th Revision. Of the 301 death certificates reviewed, 60% had the fields 43/44 completed, and 40% had these fields blank and/or ignored. We found 58.5% of no maternal deaths, 2% of maternal deaths and 39.5% inconclusive. The analysis of inconclusive deaths allowed us to classify 4.3% as hidden deaths. To overcome the incompletitudes of civil registries, it is necessary that all health professionals be committed to the reliability of the information, so the priority target could be reached.
Maternal Mortality; Women's Health; Under Registration
