Report on confidential enquiries into maternal deaths in England and Wales, 1964-1966 / by Humphrey Arthure [and others].

Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Report on confidential enquiries into maternal deaths in England and Wales, 1964-1966 / by Humphrey Arthure [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/132 (page 16)
    Eclampsia he $53 40 Complicated by intra-cranial haemorthave BS 14 34 ,, renal failure ... eau 5 i », hepato-renal failure ... 3 is ,, hepatic necrosis ] ,, broncho-pneumonia . ] Pheochromocytoma 1 Bleeding from a_ tracheo- bronchial fistula following treatment of eclampsia ... sh 1 No additional complication stated _... ae 14 All other toxaemia ... ae 28 Complicated by intra- cranial haemorrhage 5 ‘si , penal tanure +. ta za 3 # ,, liver failure ] rf ,, anaesthetic misncrentans 3 ” ,, haemorrhage during Caesarean section ... 3 es ,, puerperal sepsis ae 2 ,, broncho-pneumonia . cate 2 No additional complications stated 9 68 When considering toxaemia of pregnancy as a cause of maternal death, it is important to remember that in addition to the deaths coded to this cause, toxaemia may well be the prime mover in the sequence of events which end in death from other causes. In this enquiry series, ten women who subsequently died from pulmonary embolism and were coded as having died from that cause had symptoms of such severity that Caesarean section was carried out in six instances at times in pregnancy varying from the thirty-third week to term. The youngest women aged eighteen was also a diabetic. Three of these deaths were associated with an avoidable factor, in one case it was the patient’s own responsi- bility. because she failed to seek ante-natal care. She had eclampsia following a stillbirth at home and died from pulmonary embolism. These ten women, of whom nine had pre-eclampsia and one eclampsia, are not counted in the tables in this section because the cause of death was not toxaemia of pregnancy but pulmonary embolism.