Maternal Mortality Crisis: Shocking Study Reveals Highest Death Rate in Almost 20 Years Among British Women
New study shows highest maternal deaths in almost two decades in Britain, with black women and those from deprived areas most impacted, renewing calls for investment and training in maternity services.
A new study has revealed that the number of women in Britain dying during pregnancy or soon afterwards has reached its highest level in almost two decades. The figures from MBRRACE-UK, which monitors maternal deaths, stillbirths, and infant deaths, showed that black women and those from deprived areas remained the most severely impacted. This comes after a series of scandals at maternity units within the state-funded National Health Service (NHS), with a damning 2022 report finding that failures at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust contributed to the deaths of 201 babies and nine mothers over a 20-year period.
Calls for more investment and training in maternity services have been renewed, despite health bosses in England claiming more money than ever is going into the sector. The main cause of death was thrombosis and thromboembolism, or blood clots in the veins, with heart disease and deaths related to poor mental health also common. The maternal death rate among black women decreased slightly compared to previous years, but this cohort remained three times more likely to die compared to white women. Women from Asian backgrounds and those living in the most deprived areas were also twice as likely to die compared to their counterparts.
The report found that there were 13.41 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies reported from 2020 to 2022, with the maternal death rate for the period being the highest since 2003-2005. In response to these concerning statistics, a spokesman for NHS England said that further action is needed to improve the experiences of women and their families. They noted that investment had increased to £186 million annually to grow the maternity workforce, strengthen leadership, and improve culture.
Marian Knight, director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit and MBRRACE-UK maternal reporting lead, emphasized the need for more inclusive and personalized care, and called for prioritizing pre-pregnancy health and critical actions to address these alarming trends. It is clear that urgent measures need to be put in place to address the disparities in outcomes for women depending on their ethnicity and socio-economic status in order to reduce the number of maternal deaths in the UK.
