Commenting on the MBRRACE-UK ‘Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care Report 2016’ published today [7 December 2016], Prof Derek Bell, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said:

“It is extremely positive news to hear that maternal deaths from conditions such as pre-eclampsia are now at their lowest rate ever, which can be attributed to high quality maternal care in the UK.

“However today’s report highlights a number of areas where further progress is required; heart disease remains the leading cause of death in pregnancy, and preventing such deaths are central to reducing the overall number of women dying. There has also been no improvement in the rate of deaths from mental health problems during and after pregnancy.

“Healthcare professionals will continue to play a central role in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity, but the report contains good advice for women to both become as healthy as possible before becoming pregnant, and  to be aware of symptoms that may pose a risk to their health during pregnancy.

“We need to work collectively to reduce avoidable death and harm; and the ‘Preventing maternal mortality: It’s ok to ask’ project and ‘Three Ps in a pod’ poster, endorsed by the College, reminds clinicians to “think chest”, “think head” and “think high risk” to prevent these indirect causes of maternal death.”

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Contact: Sara Collier 0131 2473658 s.collier@rcpe.ac.uk

Notes:

  1. MBRRACE-UK 'Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care Report 2016' can be viewed here
  2. The ‘Preventing maternal mortality: It’s ok to ask’ project was aimed at preventing maternal morbidity and mortality based on the previous findings of MBRRACE-UK Confidential Enquiries. More information can be found here
  3. One of the outputs of this project was the ‘Three P’s in a Pod’ poster which reminds maternity professionals about the physical and psychological symptoms which indicate that a mother may be in need of further medical attention.