Study Reveals the Need to Expand Maternal Mortality Categorization Beyond Pregnancy-Related Deaths
BOSTON, Oct. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice announced today its participation in a new study that revealed pregnancy-associated deaths as an urgent public health concern deserving greater scrutiny by maternal mortality review committees and the clinical and public health community at large. Research has found severe maternal morbidity (SMM), opioid use disorder, and prior hospital contacts were contributors to pregnancy-associated, but not pregnancy-related deaths in Massachusetts from 2002 to 2019. It also identified four times as many pregnancy-associated deaths than pregnancy-related ones and a high rate of hospital contacts (hospital admission, observational stays, and ER visits) for those who ultimately died during pregnancy through one year postpartum.
- New Research Shows Prior Hospitalization, Severe Maternal Morbidity, and Opioid Use Disorder Were Key Contributors to Pregnancy-Associated Deaths in Massachusetts from 2002 to 2019.
- BOSTON, Oct. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice announced today its participation in a new study that revealed pregnancy-associated deaths as an urgent public health concern deserving greater scrutiny by maternal mortality review committees and the clinical and public health community at large.
- Research has found severe maternal morbidity (SMM), opioid use disorder, and prior hospital contacts were contributors to pregnancy-associated, but not pregnancy-related deaths in Massachusetts from 2002 to 2019.
- There is a clear need to expand the focus of maternal mortality to the much larger group of pregnancy-associated deaths to understand the risk factors and events that lead to many of these preventable deaths."