British mothers three times more likely to die around time of pregnancy compared to Norway and Denmark
17 November 2022, 00:37
A new study suggests UK mothers are three times more likely to die around the time of pregnancy compared to those in Denmark and Norway.
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Researchers set out to compare maternal mortality rates across eight European countries, and found that central European country Slovakia had the highest maternal death rates among them, followed by the UK.
The findings come after a major new review found that maternal mortality rates increased in the UK.
The new study, by an international team of researchers, looked at data on millions of live births across Finland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, the UK, Italy, France, and Slovakia.
The UK data included information on over two million live births between 2016 and 2018.
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Researchers found that death rates among pregnant mothers and up to 42 days after the birth varied from 2.7 per 100,000 live births in Norway to 10.9 per 100,000 in Slovakia.
The UK saw among the highest death rates, with 9.6 maternal deaths for every 100,000 babies born.
Maternal deaths were higher in the youngest and oldest mothers, across all eight nations.
In seven countries, mothers that were born abroad or had an ethnic minority background had a 50% or higher risk of maternal mortality, though this didn't hold true in Norway.
Researchers said that the leading causes of death were heart disease and suicide, while in the UK, blood clots were also a leading cause of death for new mums.
In the UK blood clots were also a leading cause of death among new mothers.
"Despite its rarity in high-income countries, maternal mortality remains an important health indicator of the quality of the care provided and health system performance," the authors wrote in the study, published in The BMJ.
"Maternal mortality ratios up to 42 days after the end of pregnancy varied by a factor of four, from 2.7 and 3.4 per 100,000 live births in Denmark and Norway to 9.6 in the UK and 10.9 in Slovakia."
The authors said for cardiovascular diseases and the mental health of new mums to be "prioritised in all countries" and they called on counties to learn best practises from each other in order to bring down deaths.
This follows the latest MBRRACE report - a leading review that is tracking the health of mums and their babies - suggested that maternal deaths are increasing in the UK and Ireland.
The report found that 229 women died during their pregnancy or up to six weeks after the end of it in 2018 to 2020.
This suggests a maternal mortality rate of 10.9 women per 100,000 babies born, which is 24% higher than in 2017 to 2019.
