Maternal deaths hit levels not seen for 20 years – as experts warn ‘critical action must be taken’

DEATHS during pregnancy and childbirth are at a near 20-year high in Britain, researchers warn.

An average of 13.41 women per 100,000 died during or six months after pregnancy from 2020 to 2022, the latest data shows.

It was up 53 per cent on the 8.79 recorded in the previous three years and the highest since 2003 to 2005, Oxford University experts said.

Professor Marian Knight said: “These data show that the UK maternal death rate has returned to levels that we have not seen for the past 20 years.

“Critical actions to work towards more inclusive and personalised care need to be prioritised as a matter of urgency now more than ever.”

The number of women dying during and immediately after pregnancy in the UK had been on the decline during the 2000s and remained relatively stable until around 2018.

However, there has been an uptick in mortality since, particularly over the most recent three years during the Covid pandemic. 

The latest data was published as part of the Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) report.

It showed the leading causes of death from 2020 to 2023 in pregnant and recently pregnant women were thrombosis and thromboembolism

Both are caused by a blood clot in the veins, which can be more likely during pregnancy because blood clots more easily during labour and delivery.

The second most common cause of death was Covid, followed by heart disease and mental health-related causes.

Black women were nearly three times as likely to die during or after pregnancy than white women, although their mortality rate decreased slightly from 2019 to 2021.

Women living in the most deprived areas of the country had nearly twice as high a maternal mortality rate as those in the least deprived.

Dr Nicola Vousden, of the Faculty of Public Health, said “housing, education and access to healthy environments” need to be addressed to help reduce the numbers.

She said: “Persisting inequalities indicate that we must think beyond maternity care to address the underlying structures that impact health before, during and after pregnancy.”

Clea Harmer, of baby loss charity Sands, said: “Today’s data showing a rise in maternal deaths is very worrying and adds to the overwhelming body of evidence that improving maternity safety for all needs to be at the top of the Government’s agenda.

“We know that news like this can be distressing for anyone who has been affected by pregnancy or baby loss, particularly those who are pregnant again, and especially so if they are in a higher risk group.

“Sands is here to offer support to anyone affected by pregnancy or baby loss, however recently or longer ago they were bereaved.”