Aim: prevalence and the various direct and indirect etiologies of maternal mortality. Materials and Methods: The present 1 years retrospective hospital based study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur,Bihar,India Results: A total of 56 deaths were analyzed. The mortality rate in study period was 333 per 1,00,000 live births. Maximum maternal deaths (60.7%) were reported in the age group 21-25 years. More deaths

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... e reported in multiparous women (67.9%) as compared to primiparous women (32.1%). Most of them were unbooked cases (60%). Hemorrhage (30.4%), eclampsia (16.1%), sepsis (12.5%) and embolism (7.1%) were the major direct causes of maternal death. Anemia (16.1%) was the major indirect cause of death. Conclusions: Hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death followed by hypertensive disorders and sepsis. Anemia continues to be the most common indirect cause. Majority of maternal deaths were preventable by proper antenatal care, early detection of high risk pregnancies and their timely referral to tertiary care centre. Keywords: MMR, Hemorrhage, Sepsis, Anemia