The rate of women dying during or soon after pregnancy in the UK has increased by 20% over the last decade, despite the Conservatives having pledged to halve it, according to figures experts have described as “an absolute tragedy”.
In 2015, the then Tory health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, vowed to reduce maternal deaths by 50% by 2030 and make the NHS “one of the safest places in the world to have a baby”. In 2017, he brought the date forward to 2025.
However, figures from MBRRACE-UK, a research project led by the University of Oxford, show the rate of women dying during the Conservatives’ 14 years in government went up, not down.
Health leaders and campaigners said the 20% increase between 2009-11 and 2022-24 was shocking and showed something had clearly “gone badly wrong”.
The rate of indirect maternal deaths, caused by pre-existing conditions exacerbated by pregnancy was largely unchanged over the last 15 years, up 3%. However, the number of deaths linked directly to pregnancy, including from bleeding, blood clots and pre-eclampsia, grew by 52%.
The leading cause of death during pregnancy or up to six weeks afterward was blood clots, which can generally be resolved if spotted and treated early enough.
“Progress towards the government ambition to reduce maternal mortality by 50% between 2010 and 2025 in England can be assessed by comparing the rates of maternal deaths between 2009-11 and 2022-24,” the report said. “Over this time, the maternal mortality rate in the UK has increased by 20%.”
Prof Marian Knight, the MBRRACE-UK programme lead, said the rise was “very concerning, especially as pressures on maternity services have not eased”.
Dr Kim Thomas, the chief executive of the charity the Birth Trauma Association, said: “The new data showing a steep rise in maternal deaths since 2009 is shocking, particularly given the previous government’s commitment to halve the rate of maternal death by 2025.
“The deaths are mainly from complications such as pre-eclampsia and blood clots, which can be treated effectively if identified and acted on in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, as a charity, we often hear stories from women of life-threatening conditions being missed, and it is clear that something has gone badly wrong in maternity care.”
Thomas added: “We find it extremely concerning that in the UK, a country with the medical knowledge and expertise to stop these deaths from happening, they are in fact increasing.”
The audit also exposed stark inequalities. There was a nearly threefold difference in death rates for black women compared to white women. Asian women also faced a higher risk of death than white women.
Women living in the most deprived areas of the UK had a maternal death rate nearly twice that of those living in the least deprived areas. Meanwhile, women aged 35 or above were nearly twice as likely to die during or shortly after pregnancy than those aged 25 to 29.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said women were being failed by a maternity system under “extreme pressure”.
Clare Livingstone, the head of professional policy and practice at the RCM, said: “This is an absolute tragedy for women, babies and the midwives and maternity support workers who care for them. Many are avoidable and the lack of progress over more than a decade is unacceptable.
“Maternity services are stretched to capacity. Midwives are working under relentless pressure and that has a real and demonstrable impact on safety, continuity of care and outcomes for women.
“Unacceptable inequalities continue to blight maternity care, with black and Asian women and those living in the most deprived communities facing significantly higher risks.
“These disparities have been known about for years yet meaningful action has been far too slow. There has been a failure to invest sufficiently in maternity services over many years.”
Until NHS maternity services were properly resourced and workforce shortages addressed, women would continue to experience “preventable harm”, Livingstone added.
