Birth Trauma Association responds to latest MBRRACE report
MBRRACE-UK has published the latest report on the deaths of women during pregnancy or in the year after pregnancy. It examines the care of 643 women who died between 2021 and 2023 in the UK and Ireland.
The report found that, between 2021 and 2023, 257 women died during or up to six weeks after pregnancy in the UK. As previously, blood clots the leading cause of maternal death followed by heart disease and Covid-19.
While these figures represent a slight drop on previous years, the number of late maternal deaths – occurring between six weeks and one year after the end of pregnancy –were significantly higher in 2021-2023 than in 2018-2020.
It was particularly concerning to see that deaths linked to mental health issues, including suicide and substance use, were the leading causes of late maternal death. Over a third (35%) of those who died by suicide or from substance use had either experienced having their child taken into care or had been faced with the threat of having their child removed.
Black women twice as likely to die as white women
It was striking to see that, as in previous years, that some demographics were over-represented in maternal deaths:
· Women from Black ethnic backgrounds were more than twice as likely to die as white women.
· Women who live in the most deprived areas were twice as likely to die as those living in the least deprived areas.
· One in five women were known to social services.
· Just over one in five had been subject to domestic abuse either before or during their pregnancy.
· Nearly half of those who died had mental health problems.
These figures are disturbing, and show that support needs to be targeted much more effectively at those in need. In particular, it is important to tackle the disparities of race and social class. Vulnerable women, such as those whose children have been taken into care or who have experienced domestic abuse, need to be supported more effectively. More must be done to identify and address the causes of the continuing racial disparity in maternal deaths. We have long campaigned for improved access to mental health services in the period following birth, but, despite greater investment in recent years, services remain over-stretched and under-resourced.
We welcome the government’s maternity inquiry headed by Baroness Valerie Amos, and urge it to include an investigation of racial and socioeconomic disparities, as well as the lack of mental health support, as a core part of its remit.
