Despite improvement in socioeconomic standards, good and accessible health care facilities the maternal mortality rate in Singapore is not declining. The maternal mortality rate in National University Hospital, Singapore, over a 7 year period 1986-1992 was 22.9 per 100,000 when direct and indirect causes were considered (34.4 per 100,000 when incidental deaths were included). However closer scrutiny reveals that most deaths were not due to the traditional direct causes of haemorrhage, sepsis, embolism or hypertensive disease. Most were due to medical disorders which in their own right carries a high risk to life even without a pregnancy.
PIP: Obstetrician-gynecologists reviewed patient records of women delivering during January 1986-December 1992 to determine the maternal mortality rate and trends and the causes of maternal deaths in the maternity ward at the National University of Singapore. There were 26,173 deliveries and 9 maternal deaths (a maternal mortality rate of 22.9/100,000). The causes of maternal deaths were pulmonary embolism (underlying condition, systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]), hemorrhage from multiple sites (thrombotic thrombocytopenia), acute exacerbation of SLE with interstitial pneumonitis, pulmonary fibrosis (systemic sclerosis), fulminant hepatitis (prior hepatitis and liver disease), and cerebral embolism (rheumatic heart disease with mitral valve replacement). There were also three incidental maternal deaths bringing the maternal mortality rate up to 34.4/1000. The incidental causes of death included septicemia from perforated peptic ulcer (uncontrolled thyrotoxicosis), multiple metastases from lung cancer, and suicide (family dispute over adoption of newborn). A cesarean section preceded 4 (44%) of the 9 maternal deaths. Two of these deaths were incidental maternal deaths. Cesarean section was related to two of the remaining six (33%) deaths. These findings show that traditional direct causes of maternal death (hemorrhage, sepsis, embolism, or hypertension) were not responsible for the maternal deaths at this tertiary facility. Instead, the women tended to have medical conditions that placed them at high risk of death regardless of pregnancy status.