A case study was conducted in Kwale, Kisumu, Vihiga and Siaya Counties in Kenya aiming to understand how surveillance of maternal and newborn deaths are reported in the District Health Information System (DHIS2), and awareness and availability of the standard operating procedures in health care facilities. An analysis of DHIS2 data was done and it revealed that on average only 39% and 11% of maternal and neonatal deaths respectively, are reported as emergency events in the four counties.