Saving Mothers' Lives: - Public Health Agency for Northern Ireland

40
1 Which mothers died, and why
Table 1.25
Characteristics of the antenatal care sought by pregnant or recently delivered women who were known to the child
protection services; United Kingdom: 2003-05.
Type of death Death
in early
pregnancy
Late or non attenders for antenatal
care (ANC)
Booked after 22
weeks or missed
more than four
visits
No
ANC
Subtotal
Total number of deaths
in women known to
social services or the
child protection services
n n (%) n n (%) n (%)
Direct 3 3 2 8 (100) 8 (100)
Indirect 2 13 3 18 (75) 24 (100)
All 5 16 5 26 (81) 32 (100)
Coincidental 0 3 2 5 (45) 11 (100)
Late Direct deaths 0 1 0 1 (10) 10 (100)
Total 5 20 7 32 (60) 53 (100)
Characteristics of the antenatal care sought by pregnant or recently delivered women who were known to
the child protection services; United Kingdom: 2003-05.
Substance misuse
Ninety-three of the women whose deaths were assessed this triennium had problems with substance misuse.
Of these, 52 were drug addicts, another 32 women were occasional drug users and the remaining women
were alcohol dependent. Seven died in very early pregnancy before they could access maternity care.
As seen in Table 1.26, as with domestic abuse and child protection, the majority of these women found
it diffi cult to maintain contact with maternity services. However, for those who did, there was increasing
evidence of a greater emphasis on planned multidisciplinary and multi-agency care, and in some cases
the care they received was outstanding. Many of the women who received good or excellent care were in
touch with their local Sure Start or Children’s Centre. Issues relating to substance misuse and pregnancy
are discussed in Chapter 12.