Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) established the Ohio Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (PAMR) to identify and review pregnancy-associated deaths with the goal of developing interventions to reduce maternal mortality, particularly for pregnancy-related deaths.

Snapshot of Ohio Pregnancy-Associated Deaths, 2008 - 2016

From 2008 through 2016 there were 610 pregnancy-associated deaths in Ohio:

70% (n=428) occurred in the postpartum period, up to 1 year after pregnancy

31% (n=186) of those occurred within 6 weeks of pregnancy

31% (n=186)

were determined to be pregnancy-related.
The most common cause of death was cardiovascular and coronary conditions 16%

60% (n=368)

were determined to be pregnancy-associated but not pregnancy-related.
The most common cause of death was unintentional injury 45%

Pregnancy-associated death: The death of a woman while pregnant or anytime within one year of pregnancy regardless of cause.

Pregnancy-associated but not pregnancy-related death:
The death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy due to a cause unrelated to pregnancy.

Pregnancy-related death:
The death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or management, excluding accidental or incidental causes.

Could not determine:
The death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy, due to a cause that could not be determined to be pregnancy-related or not pregnancy-associated.