Obesity behind over half UK maternal birth deaths

Obesity behind over half UK maternal birth deaths
A passenger waits for a delayed flight at Heathrow airport's terminal four in London, August 12, 2006. More than half of mothers who died during child birth were overweight, a report found on Tuesday. (Toby Melville/Reuters)LONDON (Reuters Life!) - More than half of British motherswho died during child birth were overweight, a report found onTuesday.
The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health(CEMACH) said maternal-related deaths in Britain are at a twodecade high.
In its annual report, "Saving Mothers' Lives: reviewingmaternal deaths to make motherhood safer," it found that of thealmost 300 women who died during childbirth between 2003 and2005 from pregnancy-related conditions, more than half wereobese. The deaths left 520 children motherless, it added.
Obese pregnant women are more at risk of dying, sufferingheart disease, miscarriage, diabetes, infections and bloodclots.
Although the death rate has not changed significantly since2000, it has risen by around 40 percent since 1985/87, thestudy showed.
It also found that women from poorer backgrounds were up toseven times more likely to die from pregnancy-relatedcomplications.
About 40 percent of deaths were preventable, it added.
Tuesday's report criticized doctors for failing to identifyand manage common medical conditions or potential emergenciesoutside their immediate area of expertise.
It comes just a few days after the Healthcare Commissionfound that one in four women giving birth in NHS hospitals wereleft alone during labor, in clear contravention of officialguidelines.
The report said that maternal obesity was now a "major andgrowing risk factor for maternal death."
It called for more pre-conception counseling and advice forobese woman to help tackle the problem.
CEMACH director, Gwyneth Lewis, said the report "clearlyshows the impact that a mother's overall health has on theoutcome of her pregnancy."
President of the Royal College of Obstetricians andGynecologists, Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, said maternalobesity puts more pressure on resources.
"Obesity is fast emerging as the public health issue of ourgeneration and its impact on maternity must be takenseriously," he said in a statement.
"Maternity services are already struggling to cope with theincreasing birth rate."
(Editing by Stephen Addison and Paul Casciato)