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In many developed countries, maternal death rates are higher in nonwhite than in white women. However, information on maternal morbidity across ethnic groups has been lacking. Investigators used the U.K. Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS) to gather information on five severe maternal morbidities — acute fatty liver, amniotic fluid embolism, antenatal pulmonary embolism, eclampsia, and peripartum hysterectomy — between February 2005 and February 2006.
Of an estimated 775,186 women who delivered, 686 experienced a severe morbidity (89 per 100,000), most commonly peripartum hysterectomy (46%). Among black women with Caribbean or African ancestry, the estimated risk for severe maternal morbidity was more than twice that of white women. The as…