It is a taboo subject that we hear little about: we speak of “maternal death” when a woman dies during her pregnancy, childbirth or during the first year following the birth of her child.
According to a study recently published by Inserm and Public Health France, the main causes of maternal death are cardiovascular diseases and… suicide. Chilling.
In detail, 262 maternal deaths were recorded in France between 2013 and 2015, i.e. 87 women died per year during pregnancy, childbirth or the year following childbirth. On average, this represents 4 deaths per day.
Cardiovascular diseases responsible for nearly 14% of maternal deaths
The cardiovascular illnesses are responsible for approximately 13.7% of maternal deaths: we can in particular mention gravidic hypertension (or gravidic hypertension, a disease which is found in 5% to 10% of pregnancies and which corresponds to an abnormal elevation pressure in the arteries), cardiomyopathies (a group of diseases that cause dysfunction in the heart muscle) or even aortic dissections (this is a vascular accident during which the internal wall of the aorta , a large blood vessel that runs from the heart, tears).
the suicide corresponds to the second leading cause of maternal mortality, with 35 suicides (i.e. approximately 1 per month!) of pregnant women or young mothers between 2013 and 2015. Next come amniotic embolisms (11% of deaths), venous thromboembolisms (9 %) and obstetric haemorrhage (8%).
According to Inserm and Public Health France, 58% of maternal deaths are preventable. Experts recommend increased vigilance with regard to women who are at risk of maternal death: obese women, women aged over 30, precarious women, women living in the overseas departments or in Île-de-France and/or migrants.
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