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14 - THE LEGACY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: THE CONCEPT OF ‘NEAR MISS’ AND THE NEED TO KEEP SAVING LIVES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2023

James Owen Drife
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Gwyneth Lewis
Affiliation:
University College London
James P Neilson
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Marian Knight
Affiliation:
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Oxford
Griselda Cooper
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Roch Cantwell
Affiliation:
Southern General Hospital, Glasgow
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Summary

In 2012 the Enquiry moved to the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) as part of MBRRACE-UK. CEMD Reports became annual and included near-misses. Life-threatening complications are 100 times commoner than death in pregnancy. In 2005 the NPEU had established a surveillance system through which all obstetric units notify uncommon complications. This facilitated a Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Morbidity, which identified an increase in severe haemorrhage due to abnormal placentation, and inadequate treatment of breast cancer due to withholding drugs in pregnancy. Positive trends included better long-term results of treating psychosis. The Enquiries’ work was hampered by NHS bureaucracy, the need for recommendations to be cost-neutral and a media embargo – even though the CEMD had shown that public information is vital for improving safety. Recently the CEMD revealed an increase in deaths from sudden death in epilepsy (SUDEP) due to withdrawal of medication in pregnancy, and continuing disparity in mortality rates between ethnic groups in the UK. Structural biases in the maternity care system persist, as shown by Black Lives Matter movement and the COVID emergency.

Type
Chapter
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Why Mothers Died and How their Lives are Saved
The Story of Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths
, pp. 180 - 192
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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