What Is Maternal Mortality?
Maternal mortality is the death of a pregnant woman during or shortly after delivery. Maternal mortality is made up of two different types of deaths. A pregnancy-related death can be due to the death of a woman during pregnancy or within the following year of giving birth, regardless of the result, duration, or location of the pregnancy, from any cause associated with or adversely affected by the pregnancy or its treatment, but not from uncontrolled or incidental causes.
A pregnancy-associated death, on the other hand, is a maternal death caused by a condition unrelated to pregnancy and occurs within a year of the pregnancy. Depending on the mother's age, pregnancy-related deaths vary, with women 35 years and older having the highest reported rates. Age-related differences in pregnancy-related deaths are also present, as are differences in racial and ethnic groups.
What Are the Causes of Pregnancy-Related Deaths?
The complications during and after pregnancy and childbirth are the major concern of women’s death. The majority of these issues arise during pregnancy and can usually be avoided or treated. Homicide, suicide, and drug overdose are the three main causes of pregnancy-related deaths. Maternal mortality from pregnancy-related deaths has also been shown to be influenced by intimate partner violence during pregnancy.
However, if they are not treated as a part of the woman's care, other complications that existed prior to pregnancy may get worse during it. Nearly 75 % of all maternal deaths result from major complications, which include:
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High blood pressure during pregnancy (preeclampsia).
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Infections.
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Complications from delivery.
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Unsafe abortions.
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Severe bleeding (most commonly bleeding after childbirth).
Some of the other important causes of pregnancy-related deaths are,
Drug Overdose:
Drug overdose is the deliberate or accidental use of one or more legal or illegal substances that results in significant harm or death. Despite a paucity of research, it is becoming more widely acknowledged that drug overdose during pregnancy is a significant risk factor for pregnancy-related death. The sharp increase in opioid-related overdose deaths in the general population, including among pregnant women, has been largely attributed to overprescribing opioid painkillers as well as rising heroin and fentanyl use. 52–54 Although opioids are involved in almost all drug overdose deaths related to pregnancy, most also involve other drugs. When opioids are combined with benzodiazepines or alcohol, the risk of a fatal overdose is significantly increased.
Substance Use Disorders:
Ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, still birth, neonatal abstinence syndrome (a group of symptoms affecting babies exposed to drugs, typically opioids while in the uterus), birth defects, premature birth, or low birth weight are just a few pregnancy complications that can have an impact on the baby. These complications vary depending on the substance used.
When alcohol and or drugs are used repeatedly and significant impairment results, such as health issues, disability, or the inability to fulfill essential responsibilities at the workplace, classroom, or home, due to the development of substance use disorder. Regardless of sociodemographic factors, substance use disorders frequently go undiagnosed in women and are expensive for individuals, families, and society as a whole.
Substance use disorders can be recognized and treated successfully both before and during pregnancy. Non-medication treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy, as well as contingency management, which provides rewards or incentives for treatment participation, are commonly used in the treatment of substance use disorders. Some substance use disorders, such as opioid use disorder, are treated primarily with medications.
Intimate Partner Violence:
More than one in every three women in the United States reports having been exposed to IPV at some point in their lives. This includes abusive behavior by a current or previous intimate partner, such as physical and sexual assault, stalking, and psychological abuse. Pregnant and postpartum women are particularly vulnerable to IPV during these times, which makes them and their unborn children more at risk. IPV is also linked to an increased risk of negative maternal and neonatal outcomes such as homicide, suicide, depression, low birth weight, and preterm birth. In some U.S. states, homicide during pregnancy and the postpartum period outnumbers any single obstetric or other cause of death for this population.
How to Prevent Pregnancy-Related Deaths?
Preventing unintended pregnancies is essential to avoid maternal deaths. All women, including adolescents, require access to contraception, legal abortion services, and quality post-abortion care. The majority of maternal deaths are avoidable because there are well-established medical strategies to manage or prevent complications.
Some of them are,
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Severe postpartum bleeding can kill a healthy woman within hours without proper care. The risk of bleeding is significantly decreased by administering oxytocics as soon as possible after delivery.
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Infections after childbirth can be avoided by practicing good hygiene and recognizing and treating early signs of infection.
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Pre-eclampsia should be detected and treated before the onset of convulsions (eclampsia) and other potentially fatal complications. The risk of eclampsia in pregnant women can be reduced by giving them medications like magnesium sulfate for preeclampsia.
What Are the Measures of WHO to Improve Maternal Health?
One of the top priorities for the WHO is to improve maternal health. In order to reduce maternal mortality, WHO works to increase the body of research evidence, provide clinical and programmatic guidance based on the evidence, establish international standards, and aid in creating and implementing successful policies and programs.
As stated in the strategies towards ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM), and improved efforts to enhance the health and well-being of pregnant women and newborns, WHO is collaborating with partners in aiding nations towards addressing disparities in the availability and efficacy of maternal, reproductive, and newborn health care facilities, providing universal access to extensive maternal, reproductive, and newborn health care, resolving the factors contributing to maternal mortality and morbidities, and associated disabilities; strengthening health systems to collect high-quality data in order to address the needs and priorities of women and girls and ensuring accountability.
Conclusion:
All women require high-quality care during their pregnancy, as well as during and after childbirth. Newborn and maternal health are closely related. It is important that trained medical personnel should attend every delivery because prompt diagnosis and care can make a critical difference in the outcome for both the mother and the child.
