The document discusses issues with applying a correction factor of 1.5 to vital registration data to calculate maternal mortality ratios. Specifically, it notes that applying this correction factor uniformly overestimates ratios for countries with high-quality registration systems and benefits those with lower quality data. It also argues that the correction factor should decrease over time as registration improves and questions inconsistencies between recent estimates for some countries like Mexico. The document calls for more details and transparency in how the ratios are calculated.

1. Mortalidad Materna Tendencias y valores Región de las Américas Fatima Marinho Coordinadora Información y Análisis – PAHO Costa Rica, Feb 2011