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About IDPH

Maternal Morbidity and Mortality

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Maternal Health as a Continuum

Health outcomes during pregnancy and the postpartum period occur across a continuum. Most women are healthy during pregnancy, meaning they experience a typical outcome with no complications. However, some women experience pregnancy complications, which may be minor or severe, and may cause significant short- and/or long-term consequences to a woman’s health. Severe complications are rare, with a relatively small number of women experiencing the most severe complication: death.

What is Maternal Morbidity?

Maternal morbidity refers to any pregnancy or delivery complication, which may be minor or severe. Maternal morbidities may cause significant short- and/or long-term consequences to a woman’s health.

What is Maternal Mortality?

Maternal mortality is the death of a woman during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period, and it serves as a sensitive indicator of the quality of the health and health care of a community. Many different definitions of maternal mortality are used to track and analyze deaths in different contexts, but Illinois uses the following standard definitions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Pregnancy-Associated Death

The death of a woman during pregnancy or within one year of the end of a pregnancy from any cause.

Pregnancy-Related Death

The death of a woman during pregnancy or within one year of the end of a pregnancy from a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy.

Maternal Mortality Review Committees

IDPH supports two Maternal Mortality Review Committees, which:

  • Identify cause of death
  • Determine if the death was pregnancy-related
  • Determine if the death was preventable
  • Develop recommendations to prevent deaths

Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC)

Reviews deaths suspected to be medically related to pregnancy.

Maternal Mortality Review Committee on Violent Deaths (MMRC-V)

Reviews deaths resulting from homicide, suicide, or drug related causes.

Publications