[Maternal mortality in Austria from a clinical point of view]

The maternal mortality rate of 22.4 per 100,000 live births in 1973 is the lowest recorded in Austria. The figures for Austria are compared with the data from other European countries with similar health systems. Austria reflects the overall trend of a decreasing maternal mortality rate. 10 cases of maternal death recorded per 16,447 live births in the 2nd Department of Obstetrics, University of Vienna are presented and discussed with respect to the clinical diagnosis and compared with the main causes of maternal death in the national and international literature. As in other countries, haemorrhage in 3 out of the 10 cases ranks first, whilst in Austria generally, toxaemia has been the most common cause of death in recent years. The main cause of the bleeding is undetected rupture of the uterus, which is frequently concealed behind the clinical diagnosis of circulatory failure with cardiac arrest. 2/3 of the observed cases in the present series are considered to have been avoidable. It is recommended that in future every single reported case of maternal death in Austria is analyzed and the cause of death and the degree of avoidability discussed as is done in England.