Objective: to describe the sociodemographic and health care characteristics of women dying due to maternal causes in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Methods: this was a descriptive study using the Mortality Information System, case investigation sheets and summary sheets of early and late maternal deaths occurring between 2006 and 2017, with avoidability assessed by the Municipal Maternal Mortality Committee. Results: we identified 171 deaths, of which 133 were in the puerperium; most deaths occurred among Black women (68.4%), women without partners (60.2%), women who had prenatal care (77.2%), during maternity hospital/general hospital delivery (97.1%), women attended to by obstetricians (82.6%);10.4% of women with puerperal complications had no health care; avoidable/probably avoidable deaths corresponded to 81.9%, for indirect causes (n=80), and direct causes (n=79). Conclusion: deaths occurred mainly in the postpartum period, among Black women; care failures were frequent; improved health service surveillance and follow-up is needed in the pregnancy-puerperal period, in Recife.