De Nevo Data Collection Strategy in Maternal Mortality Study in Turkey

Ismet Koc, Hacettepe University
Ahmet Sinan Turkyilmaz, Hacettepe University
Attila Hancioglu, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Turkey is no exception to the dearth of information on maternal deaths. De novo fieldwork and data collection strategy included the National Maternal Mortality Study (NMMS). The NMMS collected information on the age and sex of all burials by using primary informants at urban and rural cemeteries. Then two different sources of information were used to establish the number of maternal deaths among all female deaths aged 12-50, using a RAMOS data collection strategy. For deaths outside health facilities, a verbal autopsy on household level was conducted to get a cause of death. For facility deaths a review of health facility records helped to get cause of death and verify maternal deaths. The Review Committee scrutinized a sample of female death and all maternal deaths to establish final causes of death. The findings prove that the design used in NMMS is mostly successful in collecting maternal death data.