Maternal deaths

Also called Maternal mortality, Pregnancy-related deaths

Notification class
Class 1 notifiable eventHealth care providers report it immediately on suspicion to the Medical Officer of Health at their parish health department, or to the National Surveillance Unit, within 24 hours of contact.

Case definition

Any death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy.

For surveillance purposes, all maternal deaths within 1 year post termination of pregnancy should be reported.

Specimen

N/A

Laboratory

N/A

Timeline for investigation

6 weeks

Source: National Surveillance Manual

How it’s monitored

The weekly bulletin gives all notified deaths associated with pregnancy for the year to date, beside last year’s.

The figures

The National Surveillance Unit publishes the latest figures every week.

For health professionals