Maternal near miss and maternal mortality and their determinants among pregnant women at a rural tertiary centre in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa: A cross-sectional study

The MNMR and the MMR found in this study were comparable with other reports from sub-Saharan Africa, although these ratios were notably higher than in urban areas within SA. The conditions that resulted in the highest fatality rate were potentially preventable, namely eclampsia and puerperal sepsis. Many patients with life-threatening conditions were low-risk patients, and this emphasises the need for more vigilant surveillance of patients during the antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods.