Objective: Maternal mortality is one of the leading public health problems, especially in developing countries. In our study, it was aimed to reveal the characteristics of maternal deaths.

Material and Method: This study is retrospective and all maternal deaths that occurred in the province of Elazig during the five-year period between 2013 and 2017 were examined. Socio-demographic data, causes of death, risk situations, type of delay, direct or indirect maternal deaths were examined.

Results: The mean age of those included in the study was 31,80±6,48 years. The rate of primary school graduates was 33,33%, and the rate of those whose family had minimum wage was 53,33%. The rate of those who resulted in live birth was 80,00%. The rate of those who ended up as unavoi-dable was 93,33%. 80,00% of deaths occurred in the postpartum period. Again, 13,33% of deaths occurred in the first 24 hours. The frequency of those with at least one risk factor was 66,66%. The frequency of those experiencing any pattern of delay was 33,33%. The frequency of direct maternal deaths was 40,00%, indirect maternal deaths were 35,00% and accidental maternal deaths were 25,00%. Incidental maternal deaths of 25,00% were not included in our study.

Conclusion: The five-year average of maternal mortality rate was found to be 18,00 per hundred thousand. Direct maternal deaths are higher than indirect maternal deaths. For this reason, early detection of risky pregnancies and good management of the pregnancy process will reduce maternal mortality rates.