Table 2.

Data sources and collection

Data source	Hospital A	Hospital B	Hospital C	Hospital D	Hospital E
Focus group discussion with health personnel	1	1	-	1	-
Participant observations of the audit meetings	1	1	2	2	2
Data collection form (maternal death)a	14	27	18	23	23
Audit report formb	6	14	13	13	23
Semistructured questionnaire	27	12	8	11	8
In-depth interview with the data collector	1	1	1	1	1
In-depth interview with the head of the maternity unit	-	1	1	1	1

a The data collector (a staff member of the health facility) completes a standard form for each case of maternal death that includes information on maternal characteristics, prenatal care, itinerary before arriving at the hospital, labour and delivery, diagnosed complications and management of the complications. This information is extracted from the hospital registers, from available medical records and from interviews with health workers and members of the family.

b A member of the audit committee completes a standard form when the case of maternal death has been reviewed. This form includes the conclusions of the committee: primary cause of death, factors that contributed to the death, recommendations and action plan for the following weeks.