ABSTRACT Objectives The study was designed to determine the maternal mortality ratio at the Jos University teaching Hospital and ascertain the causes of maternal death. Methods This was a prospective descriptive analysis of all maternal deaths at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos north central Nigeria between 1st June, 2006 and 31st May, 2008. Results: During the study period, there were 56 maternal deaths and 4443 live births at the Jos University Teaching Hospital giving a maternal mortality ratio of 1260/100,000 live births. Of these, there were 15 deaths among 81 unbooked patients giving a maternal mortality ratio of 18518/ 100,000 live births. Twenty-five deaths occurred among those who booked elsewhere (2969/100,000 live births) and 9 deaths among women who booked in JUTH with a maternal mortality ratio of 256/100,000 live births. Thirty nine (69.6%) of the deaths were direct maternal deaths while 17 (30.4%) were indirect maternal deaths. The leading causes of direct maternal deaths were eclampsia (28.6%), haemorrhage (23.1%), unsafe abortion (8.9%) and pulmonary embolism (5.4%). Of the indirect causes of maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS accounted for 14.3% while anaemia, anaesthetic complications and thyrotoxicosis accounted for 8.9%, 3.6% and 1.8% respectively. Conclusion Maternal mortality ratio is still high in JUTH. It was found to be lower in those that had tertiary education and in booked patients. HIV/AIDS appears to be emerging as one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in this study.