Maternal and pregnancy-related death: causes and frequencies in an autopsy study population

Maternal deaths during pregnancy, both from pregnancy-related or other causes, are rare in Western industrialized countries. In this study we report maternal and pregnancy-related deaths in a large autopsy population focusing on medical history, autopsy findings and histological examinations.

Medico-legal autopsy files (n = 11,270) from the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, University Medical Centre Charité, University of Berlin, and the State Institute of Legal and Social Medicine, Berlin, from 2005 to 2010 were reviewed. All female cases between 15 and 49 years were checked for maternal and pregnancy-related death, and deaths of pregnant women from non-natural causes were also included. Fatalities that met the chosen criteria were classified as "direct gestational death," "indirect gestational death" or "non-gestational death."

13 female fatalities (0.12 %) met the chosen criteria (median age 28 years ± 6.87 SD). Eight (61.5 %) women died in-hospital, four (30.8 %) at home, and one woman died in public. Three cases (23.1 %) were "non-gestational deaths," and one case (7.7 %) remained unclear after autopsy and additional examinations. Of the remaining nine cases, six cases (46.5 %) were "direct gestational deaths," and two cases (15.4 %) were "indirect gestational deaths." One case (7.7 %) was not to be defined as "late maternal death," but the cause of death seemed to be directly related to previous gestation ["(very) late maternal death"].

Maternal deaths during pregnancy, both from pregnancy-related or other causes, remain an uncommon event in routine forensic autopsy practice. We report on the collection and analysis of maternal and pregnancy-related deaths in a large autopsy population, with particular attention to the phenomenology of pregnancy, pathophysiological changes in different organ systems and their detection, and the forensic autopsy assessment.