MBRRACE-UK ‘Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care’ report highlights concerning figures on ectopic pregnancy deaths

We are concerned to note an increase in deaths from ectopic pregnancy, as highlighted in today’s MBRRACE-UK ‘Saving Lives, Improving Mother’s Care’ report.

The report notes that ectopic pregnancy deaths have almost doubled in the last five years – from 5 cases noted in the 2019 report to 12 in today’s report.

The report also reflects that the 12 women who tragically lost their lives to ectopic pregnancy between 2021 and 2022 could have received better care. For nine of these women (75%), improvements in care could potentially have made a difference in the outcome.

Recommendations

One of the key recommendations from the report is to review how ambulance services assess risk, ensuring that 999 calls related to women who are pregnant, recently pregnant, or might be pregnant, are given the appropriate level of attention and care.

We support these recommendations.

The report also underlines the need for both women and clinicians to be mindful of the symptoms of ectopic pregnancy and to ‘Think Ectopic’— a message championed by our colleagues at The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. Its campaign, ‘Think Ectopic’, is part of the charity’s continued efforts to raise awareness among healthcare professionals who are often the first point of contact for women.

The MBRRACE report also highlighted inequalities in maternal mortality rates, with black women still having a three times higher risk of dying during or soon after pregnancy, when compared with white women. Asian women’s risk was two times higher, along with those from the most deprived areas.

The Miscarriage Association and its partner charities continue to call for more research into this inequality.

The full MBRRACE report can be read here: https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/reports/maternal-reports