Introduction: Pregnancy is a natural phenomena and basis of birth but can induce various dangers to mother and fetus. Since mother is the central part of family, maternal mortality would be an irreparable damage to the community. On average 10100 live births and 12 maternal mortalities occur in Kurdestan province each year the maternal mortality rate is therefore 118/100000 live births which in comparison to similar figure in whole country (37/100000 live births) is three times higher.

Materials and Methods: This research is an analytic case-control study. Cases and controls were matched for place of residence and age at gestation. Cases (n=55) were chosen by census and controls (n=220) were chosen by random sampling. The tool used to collect data was questionnaire, validity and reliability of which was tested by content validity and test-retest method. The statistical testing used in this study were Chi square and odds ratio. Data were analyzed by SPSS .11 software.

Results: Most of maternal mortalities had occurred in women 18-35 years of age, illiterate and living in rural areas. Marivan had the highest maternal mortality compared to other surveyed cities (29.1%). Prenatal care (OR= 22.7), parturition agent (OR= 9.85), use of one of the method of family planning (OR= 2.5) and parturition method (OR= 2.3) had meaningful relationship with maternal mortality.

Conclusion: According to findings of this research, it is possible to decrease the maternal mortality by improving prenatal care and family planning and preventing parturition by uneducated midwives and avoiding unnecessary cesarian sections.

  Background & Aim: Midwives are responsible for providing health services to mothers and infants in crises. The aim of this study was to identify educational needs of midwifery students regarding mother and infant mortality prevention in crisis situations .

  Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, all 235 final-year BSc. and MSc. midwifery students were selected from four medical universities located in Tehran. Informed consent forms were completed and signed by the students. The students completed a researcher-made two-section questionnaire including demographic items and educational needs items regarding mother and child preventive services in crises. Data were analyzed in the SPSS . 

  Results: Mean score of the m aternal and neonatal prevention service dimensions were 70±21.5 ( out of 105 ) and 46.7 ± 9 (out of a 65), respectively. Most of the students (86.8% ) declared that their academic education did not prepare them for their roles in crises. Only 10.6% of the students had some courses on crisis and 11.5% of them had the experience of dealing with crisis. The students in the BSc. degree had more educational needs in both dimensions compared to the students in the MSc. degree (P<0.046). There were significant relationships between the age of students (P<0.001), their clinical experience (P<0.001), previous educational courses (P<0.001) and experience in crisis (P<0.05) with the educational needs. There was no significant relationship between the educational needs and the students’ universities ( P>0.05 ) .

  Conclusion: Educational curriculums should be revised regarding actions to be done on prevention of mother and infant mortality in crises .