MATERNAL DEATHS IN CALIFORNIA, 1957-1962

During the period 1957-1962, the Committee on Maternal and Child Care of the California Medical Association and the State Department of Public Health studied 551 deaths of women who died during or within 90 days of termination of pregnancy. Of the 356 deaths from obstetric causes, 109 were attributed to abortion. Of the 195 deaths from non-obstetric causes, about one-half were considered by review committees to have been related to pregnancy.