Conhecer and analyse maternal death through the social representations of health professionals in the municipality of Ribeará Preto-SP. The functional nature of the tasks is observed in the hospital. By admitting a parturient, professionals are already aware in advance of what they need to do, the synchronism of these will only be broken if a death occurs, because in that space they all turn to life and not to death. The qualitative approach is used. Content analysis and social representations were chosen. The semi-structured interview technique and free observation were chosen. The sample consisted of seventeen health professionals. In the speeches of these social subjects, the empirical category emerged in the social representations of maternal death called ‘unacceptable’. The conception of these in relation to life and death, from the purely biological point of view of the existence, makes death an unacceptable experience. Maternal death limits the actions of health professionals and makes them reflect on other components, which may contribute to the occurrence of that death. Technological advances, institutionalisation of childbirth and increased pre-natal coverage have not been sufficient to reduce maternal mortality in Ribeará Preto. There are probably other ways of caring for women, which will really change that framework, i.e. assistance that seeks to establish a link, where women can actively participate in such care and professionals perceive to act beyond biological care, looking at the health-ill health process in their social and cultural context.