Review finds majority of recent maternal deaths could have been prevented with better care
An analysis of maternal deaths between 2022 and 2024 concluded that a large share were avoidable, highlighting ongoing safety gaps in maternity services.
A detailed review by the MBRRACE-UK programme at the University of Oxford evaluated 178 of the 252 women who died during pregnancy, childbirth or the postnatal period between 2022 and 2024. The findings indicate that a substantial number of these fatalities might have been avoided if proper clinical management had been provided. The report also shows an increase in preventable deaths compared with earlier periods, despite longstanding governmental commitments to improve maternity safety.
Health professionals cited chronic understaffing and limited capacity as key obstacles to delivering safe care. The Department of Health acknowledged that many women have not received the maternity care they deserve, and the Health Secretary has marked the issue as a personal priority. The analysis underscores the need for systemic reforms to reduce treatable complications such as blood clots.
Why it matters
Maternal deaths that could be prevented highlight systemic failures in healthcare that affect women's safety.
How the sides frame it
LOW AGREEMENTCenter coverage stresses grieving families' calls for an independent maternity review and critiques the SNP's response, while right-leaning coverage highlights the preventable nature of the deaths, understaffing issues, and governmental accountability.
CENTER
Centers on families' demands for a swift, independent inquiry into systemic failures and criticizes centrist coverage review as inadequate
RIGHT
Focuses on the preventable deaths, chronic understaffing, and the Health Secretary's personal priority to improve maternity care
The right emphasises
- states that most recent maternal deaths could have been prevented with better clinical management
- attributes failures to chronic understaffing and limited capacity
- notes the Health Secretary has made the issue a personal priority
Possibly left out
- Centrist coverage reports families' petition and calls for one outlet's review, absent from right-leaning coverage
- Right-leaning coverage reports statistics on preventable deaths and staffing shortages, absent from centrist coverage
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