The following thesis was developed for the purpose of contributing with information set aside for the definition of measures to reduce the Maternal Mortality in Peru. The general purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between the reduction of Maternal Mortality and the improvement of the social and public health factors associated with it. These factors are the following: prenatal care, labor in a public or private sanitary establishment and medical attention of the labor.
Considering the hypothesis, the number of maternal deaths in Peru from 2001 to 2010, as well as the ratio and rate of Maternal Mortality, at a national level and in every department of the country, was estimated in order to establish the reduction of Maternal Mortality. The relationship between Maternal Mortality and the social and public health factors has been determined by calculating the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and by elaborating dispersion charts. According to the results of this study, it could be established that Maternal Mortality, even though it has been reduced during the decade evaluated in this study, is still considerably high. Likewise, it was observed that the reduction of Maternal Mortality hasn’t occurred in the same way in every Peruvian department.
By means of conclusion, this thesis points out the urgent need of an efficient and effective coverage of services related to Maternal Health in the most remote districts of every department. The agents of this coverage must be the Peruvian State in coordination with the Civil Society. Only by means of the display of these services, a significant reduction of Maternal Mortality can be achieved. In this way, Peru could approach the goal of the Fifth Objective of Development of the Millenium: to reduce, between years 2001 and 2015, the Maternal Mortality rate by 75%.