Based on the overall developing trend from 2000 to 2013, the most obvious reduction in urban-rural differences in the maternal cause of death was OH (Slope BGV = -14.61, Slope T = -20.84). No significant changes were observed for the remaining indicators. With the exception of short-term fluctuations in individual years, the rural-urban differences in PI, PIH, MC and AFE were maintained at a low level. In 2013, the T of PIH was the largest (13.1), whereas the T of the other death causes was relatively small, with a distribution of [3.0, 13.1] (Fig. 4).