New study suggests strategies to reduce maternal mortality

According to a new study by researchers at ICES and St. Michael's Hospital, the number of serious maternal morbidities (SMM) in a pregnant woman is closely related to her risk of maternal death.

SMM is defined by life-threatening conditions such as ICU admission, invasive ventilation, and heart conditions that develop during pregnancy.

The study published today in Open Network JAMA reviewed data from more than 1.9 million hospital deliveries in Ontario and found that the number of MMS cases was strongly badociated with maternal death up to 42 days after 39; childbirth. The researchers found that the number of MMS was exponentially badociated with maternal death.

"Our results show that some MMS are predictive of death and therefore we should target preventable MMS or limit their progression by using an early warning system to reduce the number of maternal deaths," he said. Dr. Joel Ray, lead author. on the study and a researcher at ICES and the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital.

The researchers found that women with MMS were 20 times more likely to die than those with no MMS and that the risk was multiplied by 102 with two SMMs and up to 2192 times the risk when six or more SMMs.

The results show that the most common SMM conditions were postpartum hemorrhage with blood transfusion, admission to ICU, puerperal sepsis (bacterial infection), severe preeclampsia (hypertension) and the urgent need for # 39; hysterectomy.

The researchers identified 181 maternal deaths out of 1,953,943 births – a rate of 9.3 per 100,000 births. Of the 181 deaths, 68% of the deceased women had at least one MMS problem. Women who died tended to be older, have first-time mothers, low-income, and Afro-Caribbean, with multifetal pregnancy, pre-existing diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease.

"Despite improvements in family planning and obstetric care, maternal deaths have remained stable in Canada, and it is estimated that almost half of them are preventable." Our results illustrate the interest use existing early warning systems and protocols to identify the clinical deterioration of the woman to reduce maternal deaths, "Ray adds.

"The prevalence of severe maternal morbidity and factors badociated with maternal mortality in Ontario, Canada" was published today in Open Network JAMA.

Explore further:
From 2006 to 2015, serious maternal morbidity increased