A new study has found that the UK has had a drastic increase in the number of maternal deaths due to “indirect” causes over the past decades. The trend was described as “worrying” by experts in an article in the BMJ (British Medical Journal). In order to face the problem the authors emphasized that there is a need for extra obstetric physicians in the country, along with a more extensive training program.

Although the UK has seen a significant reduction in the rate of maternal deaths since 1950, over the past twenty years the rate of deaths linked to indirect causes has increased dramatically, according to Catherine Nelon-Piercy – Professor of Obstetric Medicine at King’s College London – and her colleagues. They also mentioned that the most common indirect causes of death during pregnancy are due to cardiac or neurological disease.

A very high percentage of these deaths were found to be due to substandard care, with a third of the cases claiming major substandard care. The authors argued that if their care had been more adequate fewer mothers would have died.

To remedy the situation, more training is necessary for doctors to be able to detect underlying problems among pregnant women, such as headache, abdominal pain and breathlessness. The authors stress that training doctors to detect underlying problems is vital, as obstetricians and midwives are unable to prevent maternal deaths on their own.

The authors also stated how dire the need for more obstetric physicians is, as well as the importance of this sub-specialty being formally recognized.

Professor Nelson-Piercy said:

“Many other countries, including Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand, recognise the importance of obstetric medicine and have well developed training programmes.”

This recognition and development of training programs needs to be introduced in the UK.

Obstetricians focus primarily on treating women with any medical problems during pregnancy and providing pre-pregnancy counseling. More older women or women with complex medical conditions are currently becoming pregnant and they need to have sufficient pre-pregnancy counseling in order to successfully give birth. The importance of a good standard of care among pregnant women is crucial if UK health services are really serious about reducing maternal mortality.

Written by Joseph Nordqvist