TY - JOUR

T1 - An audit of 70 maternal deaths

AU - Bødker, Birgit

AU - Hvidman, Lone

AU - Weber, Tom

AU - Møller, Margrethe

AU - Sørensen, Jette Led

N1 - Articles published in the DMJ are “open access”. This means that the articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - INTRODUCTION: Although women rarely die during pregnancy and childbirth in Denmark, keeping track of the maternal mortality rate and causes of death is vital in identifying learning points for future management of critical illness among obstetric patients and in pinpointing risk factors.METHODS: We identified maternal deaths between 2002 and 2017 by linking four Danish national health registers, using death certificates and reports from hospitals. An audit group then categorised each case by cause of death before identifying any suboptimal care and learning points, which may serve as a foundation for national guidelines and educational strategies.RESULTS: Seventy women died during pregnancy or within six weeks of a pregnancy in the study period. The most frequent causes of death were cardiovascular disease (n = 14), hypertensive disorder (n = 10), suicide (n = 10) and thromboembolism (n = 7). Suboptimal care was identified in 30 of the 70 cases.CONCLUSIONS: Mortality from some of the most important causes of death decreased during the study period. No deaths from preeclampsia or thrombosis, two of the leading causes of death, were identified after 2011. In 2015-2017, suicide was the main cause of maternal death, which indicates that a stronger focus on vulnerability in pregnancy and childbirth is essential. Among the 70 deaths, 34% were potentially avoidable, indicating that it is essential continuously to focus on how to reduce severe maternal morbidity and mortality.FUNDING: none TRIAL REGISTRATION. not relevant.

AB - INTRODUCTION: Although women rarely die during pregnancy and childbirth in Denmark, keeping track of the maternal mortality rate and causes of death is vital in identifying learning points for future management of critical illness among obstetric patients and in pinpointing risk factors.METHODS: We identified maternal deaths between 2002 and 2017 by linking four Danish national health registers, using death certificates and reports from hospitals. An audit group then categorised each case by cause of death before identifying any suboptimal care and learning points, which may serve as a foundation for national guidelines and educational strategies.RESULTS: Seventy women died during pregnancy or within six weeks of a pregnancy in the study period. The most frequent causes of death were cardiovascular disease (n = 14), hypertensive disorder (n = 10), suicide (n = 10) and thromboembolism (n = 7). Suboptimal care was identified in 30 of the 70 cases.CONCLUSIONS: Mortality from some of the most important causes of death decreased during the study period. No deaths from preeclampsia or thrombosis, two of the leading causes of death, were identified after 2011. In 2015-2017, suicide was the main cause of maternal death, which indicates that a stronger focus on vulnerability in pregnancy and childbirth is essential. Among the 70 deaths, 34% were potentially avoidable, indicating that it is essential continuously to focus on how to reduce severe maternal morbidity and mortality.FUNDING: none TRIAL REGISTRATION. not relevant.

KW - Cardiovascular Diseases

KW - Cause of Death

KW - Critical Illness

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Maternal Death/etiology

KW - Maternal Mortality

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Pregnancy Complications

KW - Suicide

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34477096

VL - 68

JO - Danish Medical Journal

JF - Danish Medical Journal

SN - 2245-1919

IS - 9

M1 - A02210144

ER -