In high-income countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, pregnancy is comparatively safe. But maternal deaths still happen and in places like the UK are increasing. Understanding why is important, not only for the family a woman leaves behind but for the services who provided her care and society more broadly. Maternal deaths have long been considered an indicator of the quality of the health system where they occur.
Most of the women who die in high-income countries are not dying from pregnancy complications, such as bleeding, but from medical or mental health conditions made worse by pregnancy. A new study comparing eight European countries found heart disease, blood clots and suicide to be the leading causes of maternal deaths.
Crucially, these women do not just die during pregnancy or childbirth. Most die after the end of pregnancy. A recent UK study of women who died during or up to a year after the end of pregnancy found only 14% of women – one in seven – died while they were still pregnant.
