Wednesday 16 November 2022 11:38 PM Britain's maternity mortality scandal: New mums THREE times more likely to die ... trends now

Wednesday 16 November 2022 11:38 PM Britain's maternity mortality scandal: New mums THREE times more likely to die ... trends now
Wednesday 16 November 2022 11:38 PM Britain's maternity mortality scandal: New mums THREE times more likely to die ... trends now

Wednesday 16 November 2022 11:38 PM Britain's maternity mortality scandal: New mums THREE times more likely to die ... trends now

Mothers in the UK are over three times more likely to die during pregnancy or within a year of giving birth than in Norway, a study reveals.

A comparison of eight high-income European countries found only Slovakia had worse rates of maternal deaths.

Analysis of more than two million UK births showed heart disease and suicide were the leading causes of death among new mothers, suggesting that rising obesity and mental health issues are to blame.

Yet in more than half of cases in Britain, doctors are failing to record links to maternity on death certificates, obscuring the full scale of the crisis, the researchers suggest.

Half of the UK deaths occurred in the 12 months following birth, pointing to shortcomings in postnatal care.

It follows a report last week that the number of women who died up to six weeks after having a baby has leapt by a quarter in five years. 

Some 229 mothers died alongside 27 of their babies between 2018 and 2020, with many of the deaths ‘avoidable’. A further 289 women died between six weeks and a year later.

A comparison of eight high-income European countries found only Slovakia had worse rates of maternal deaths

A comparison of eight high-income European countries found only Slovakia had worse rates of maternal deaths

The latest findings come from an international team of researchers, including Oxford University academics, who examined data on millions of live births across Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and the UK.

Rates of death among mothers in pregnancy and up to 42 days after the birth varied from 2.7 per 100,000 live births in Norway to 10.9 in Slovakia, with the UK second worst at 9.6.

Only the UK and France held data on so-called late maternal deaths – those up to 12 months after giving

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