Question:medium
Which of the following regarding maternal mortality rate (MMR) is not true?
Which of the following regarding maternal mortality rate (MMR) is not true?
Show Hint
Look at what sits in the denominator: it is live births alone.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Numerator includes total number of female deaths within 42 days of delivery
- Denominator includes still births and abortions
- It is expressed as a rate and not a ratio
- It is expressed per 100
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Maternal mortality is one of the most sensitive indicators of the health of mothers and of the obstetric services in a community. To read the formula correctly, separate it into top and bottom. The top counts women who die because of pregnancy related causes, including any death up to 42 days after the pregnancy ends. The bottom is the count of live births during the same time window, and the result is scaled, classically per 100,000 live births.
Now walk through the choices. Saying the numerator captures deaths within 42 days of delivery is correct, since the 42 day puerperal window is exactly how a maternal death is defined. Calling it loosely a rate is the conventional usage even though it is mathematically a ratio, so that option is not the trick answer here. Expressing it per 100 reflects the older scaling that was once used.
The statement that breaks the rule is the one about the bottom of the fraction. The denominator is restricted to live births. Throwing still births and abortions into the denominator is simply not part of the definition, so that claim is the false one.
\[\boxed{\text{Denominator includes still births and abortions}}\]
Now walk through the choices. Saying the numerator captures deaths within 42 days of delivery is correct, since the 42 day puerperal window is exactly how a maternal death is defined. Calling it loosely a rate is the conventional usage even though it is mathematically a ratio, so that option is not the trick answer here. Expressing it per 100 reflects the older scaling that was once used.
The statement that breaks the rule is the one about the bottom of the fraction. The denominator is restricted to live births. Throwing still births and abortions into the denominator is simply not part of the definition, so that claim is the false one.
\[\boxed{\text{Denominator includes still births and abortions}}\]
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