In Australia, 95 maternal deaths were reported in the three year
period 2000 to 2002. The report, Maternal deaths in Australia
2000-2002, released today by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW) details the numbers and causes of these
deaths.
'Among the 95 deaths are eight late maternal deaths, which
occurred up to a year after the end of the pregnancy, and three
deaths believed to be unrelated to the pregnancy' Dr Elizabeth
Sullivan, Director of the AIHW's National Perinatal Statistics Unit
at the University of New South Wales, explained.
The report focuses on the 84 deaths related directly and
indirectly to pregnancy and birth. Over the three year period the
ratio of maternal deaths per 100,000 women who gave birth (called
the Maternal Mortality Ratio or MMR) was 11.1 compared to 8.4 per
100,000 women who gave birth in the previous period 1997-1999.
'While there has been an increase in the number of deaths
indirectly related to pregnancy or its management from 30 in
1997-1999 to 52 in 2000-2002, the rise is primarily a result of
improved reporting of deaths, and changes in the classification of
some deaths from incidental to indirect, with the number of
incidental deaths falling from 28 to 3 over the same period,' Dr
Sullivan said.
The most common causes of maternal deaths overall were from
infection, cardiac disease, amniotic fluid embolism, psychiatric
events and haemorrhage. While there was a decline in the number of
deaths from pulmonary thromboembolism, drug overdoses and motor
vehicle accidents.
The maternal mortality ratio for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander women was 45.9 deaths per 100,000 women who gave birth - a
rate 5.3 times that of non-Indigenous Australian women (who had a
MMR of 8.7 deaths per 100,000 women who gave birth).
Associate Professor James King, Chair of the AIHW National
Advisory Committee on Maternal Mortality said, 'the persisting
higher level of mortality experienced by Indigenous mothers is of
serious concern, as is the higher overall rates of all cause
mortality experienced by Indigenous women of reproductive age.'
Professor King noted that many maternal deaths had not been
referred to coroners, with only 56% of maternal deaths being the
subject of coronial inquests. 'It is essential that we learn as
much as we can from each one of these deaths, so that giving birth
in Australia becomes even safer than it is at present,' he
said.
18 October 2006
Further information: Dr Elizabeth Sullivan,
tel. 02 9382 1014, mob. 0439 994 820, or Associate Professor James
King, Chair AIHW National Advisory Committee on Maternal Mortality,
mob. 0419 720 281
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the Maternal deaths in
Australia 2000-2002 report.