Incidence and main causes of severe maternal morbidity in São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil: a longitudinal study.

Context And Objective: Evaluation of severe maternal morbidity has been used in monitoring of maternal health. The objective of this study was to estimate its incidence and main causes in São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil.

Design And Setting: Prospective longitudinal study, carried out in two public high-risk maternity hospitals and two public intensive care units (ICUs) for referral of obstetric cases from the municipality.