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Most pregnancy-related deaths preventable
Three out of five pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, according to results published in the CDC’s Vital Signs report.
Pregnancy related deaths can occur during pregnancy and up to a year after a woman gives birth, according to the report.
“Tragically, nearly 700 women die each year of complications of pregnancy in the United States,” Anne Schuchat, MD, CDC Principal Deputy Director, said in a press release. “These are women in their prime who leave loved ones behind, often stunned at what has happened.”
Researchers used 2011 to 2015 data from the CDC’s national Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System to calculate overall and sociodemographic based pregnancy-related mortality ratios. For 2013 to 2017, detailed data on pregnancy related deaths from 13 state maternal mortality review committees were analyzed to determine preventability, factors that contributed to pregnancy-related deaths and prevention strategies identified by maternal mortality review committees to address contributing factors of pregnancy-related death.
Results for 2011 to 2015 found that the national pregnancy-related mortality ratio during that time was 17.2 per 100,000 live births.
The data confirmed racial disparities in pregnancy-related mortality ratios. Black women experienced a pregnancy-related mortality ratio of 42.5 per 100,000 live births, 3.3 times higher than the ratio for white women: 13 deaths per 100,000 live births. American Indian/Alaskan Native women experienced a rate 2.5 times higher than white women, with 32.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Among pregnancy-related deaths, 31.3% occurred during pregnancy, 16.9% on the day of delivery, 18.5% occurred 1 to 6 days after birth, 21.4% occurred 7 to 42 days after birth, and 11.7% occurred 43 to 365 days after birth.
Maternal mortality review committees determined that 60% of the reviewed pregnancy-related deaths were preventable.
The leading cause of death varied depending on the time of pregnancy-related death, and more than 33% of pregnancy-related deaths were caused by cardiovascular conditions.
The announcement comes shortly after the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released guidelines that encouraged the medical community to reduce the number of maternal deaths caused by CVD. In the guidelines, ACOG called for all women with hypertensive disorders to see a primary care physician or cardiologist within 7 to 10 days after delivery and all women with CVD or cardiovascular disorders to have a cardiac evaluation within 7 to 14 days after giving birth.
“Primary care providers, as well as many other providers, even in areas that may not be obstetric, have an important role to play, and the findings of this Vital Signs show that chronic disease plays a major role in maternal mortality,” RADM Wanda Barfield, MD, MPH, director of CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health, told Healio Primary Care Today. “The way that we can all help is through identifying women with chronic conditions and giving them the opportunity to understand their conditions and better manage their health.”– by Erin Michael
Disclosures: Schuchat and Barfield work for the CDC.