FOI ref: FOI-2024-2094
You asked
We are requesting the following between the dates of 1 May 2023 and 31 May 2024:
- The number of maternal perinatal deaths in the United Kingdom during the requested time period, separated month by month if possible.
- The number of maternal perinatal deaths in each region in the United Kingdom during the requested time period.
- The number percentage of perinatal women deaths that make up the deaths in the requested timeframe, separated by ethnicity. For example: 20% were white, 10% were Spanish, 6% were Irish.
- The most common causes of death of both perinatal women and babies during the time period requested.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. This is driven by information collected from death certificates at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
A maternal death is defined internationally as the death of a woman during or up to six weeks (42 days) after the end of pregnancy (whether the pregnancy ended by termination, miscarriage or a birth, or was an ectopic pregnancy) through causes associated with, or exacerbated by, pregnancy (World Health Organisation 2010).
The information we hold unfortunately does not equate directly to this definition. We can produce statistics on maternal deaths up to six weeks after a birth, and have recently done so for maternal deaths occurring between 2008 and 2022. This is available here: Linked maternal deaths occurring between 2008 and 2022, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
We have not produced or published any data or analysis covering the information you have requested for the exact time period requested. Information on maternal deaths need to be created as a custom output. Please note these services are subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs in line with our charging policy. Please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk for more information.
Please note, we do not hold the information you have requested for maternal mortality by ethnicity. The information we hold on deaths is limited to what is recorded on the death certificate by a doctor or information about the cause and circumstances of the death provided by a coroner. Ethnicity is not recorded on the death certificate. Therefore, the above bespoke service offer unfortunately would not include the ethnicity mortality information requested.