Maternal mortality

Maternal mortality statistics shall be compiled on the basis of the Causes of Death Database. From that database, “maternal deaths” are selected according to a complex procedure. It takes into account the WHO definition and is described in detail in the metadata. The tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) defines maternal death, in particular, as “the death of a woman during pregnancy or within 42 days of the termination of pregnancy, regardless of the duration or localisation of pregnancy, by any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its consequences or treatment; accidental death or other occasional causes are excluded”. “Mother mortality shall be divided into two groups. Maternal deaths from a direct obstetric cause are deaths resulting from obstetric complications (pregnancy, labour and aftermath of childbirth), medical treatment, lack of medical treatment, inappropriate treatment or a series of events arising from any of the above factors. Maternal deaths due to an indirect obstetric cause are deaths caused by a pre-existing disease or from a condition that developed during pregnancy and was not the result of direct obstetric causes, but was exacerbated by the physiological effects of pregnancy." Furthermore, the ICD-10 also defines late maternal death, in particular as "the death of a woman from direct or indirect obstetric causes more than 42 days, but less than a year, after termination of pregnancy." The maternal mortality ratio is the ratio of the number of direct and indirect obstetric deaths observed, expressed in the same year of birth, the same number of births per year. Late maternal deaths are not taken into account when calculating that ratio. In view of the small and markedly variable number of cases recorded annually in Belgium, the choice was made to calculate the ratio on the basis of the cumulative maternal deaths and live births of five consecutive years, with the ratio calculated therefrom being entered in the middle year. In identifying these maternal deaths, the ad hoc working group, which collects all federated entities producing data around the Belgian Statistical Office, did not exclude the risk of underestimating these deaths on the basis of only the statistical form serving as the main source. The Working Group therefore calls for further efforts to further improve the monitoring of maternal deaths and supports the recent initiative of the Order of Mothers and Newborn Doctors to explore the possibility of establishing a maternal mortality register. Metadata Maternal mortality statistics