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Article History

Received: 2 September 2025

Accepted: 6 February 2026

First Online: 11 February 2026

Declarations

:

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: Secondary data from Zambia’s MDSR data provided the basis for the statistical analysis. The anonymized MDSR files in Excel format for the years 2018–2022 were made available by the MoH HQ. All identifiable information about the deceased woman, including her name was removed from the datasets. The use of the anonymised MDSR datasets for the manuscript was approved by the MoH, therefore there was no need for informed permission or ethical clearance to participate. The data was used by the authors in compliance with all applicable usage guidelines. Every attempt has been made to guarantee accuracy in the results’ interpretation and reporting.

: The data used in this study is based on routinely collected data on maternal deaths in Zambia. The data are collected as part of the MoH’s mandate to ensure that data causes of maternal deaths are known so that among others there is improvement in service delivery and preventable maternal mortality are ended. The data are about women who are deceased and thus, cannot consent to participate in our study. However, the MoH HQ provided permission for the use of the anonymised MDSR datasets for the manuscript.

: No images, individual details or videos of the deceased women and those who conduct the MDSR are part of this manuscript.

: Not applicable.