Objective:

to describe maternal deaths and deaths of women of childbearing age in the indigenous population in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, from 2006 to 2012.

Method:

this is a descriptive study based on linkage of data from the Mortality Information System (SIM) and its investigation module (SIM-Web); causes of death were considered in accordance with the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems - 10th Revision (ICD-10).

Results:

linkage provided a database comprised of 115 records, of which only 58.3% were recorded on SIM as indigenous; the main causes of death were diseases of the circulatory system (27.0%), external causes (14.8%), neoplasms (13.0%), and maternal factors (8.7%).

Conclusion:

deaths of indigenous women of childbearing age were underreported; the main cause of these deaths were diseases of the circulatory system, although maternal deaths still represent an important cause of death in the population studied.

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