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World well being analysis has lengthy proven the devastating penalties that maternal deaths have on households and communities in creating nations the place maternal mortality charges are excessive. However this perception is uncommon in the US, regardless of the nation sustaining the very best fee of maternal mortality amongst its peer nations.
A brand new examine led by a Boston College College of Public Well being (BUSPH) researcher captures the primary information in a long time on the connection between maternal deaths and toddler well being and deaths, discovering that infants are more likely to die or be hospitalized for poor well being if their mom experiences a pregnancy-associated demise or extreme sickness.
Printed within the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the examine examined maternal and toddler well being and mortality charges in Massachusetts from 1999 to 2021 and located that in instances when the mom died throughout being pregnant or the postpartum interval, the toddler mortality fee was greater than 14 instances as excessive as in instances when the mom didn’t die throughout this era. When maternal deaths occurred after moms skilled extreme maternal morbidity (SMM), the toddler mortality fee was 22 instances higher than when the mom survived the postpartum interval.
Moreover, nonpremature infants who survived after their mom’s pregnancy-associated demise had been nonetheless 35% extra more likely to be hospitalized inside their first 12 months of life, and 10% extra more likely to be hospitalized if their mom skilled a well being situation related to SMM.
These findings assist quantify the intrinsic relationship between a mom’s well being and their toddler’s well being. As states’ maternal mortality overview committees are being lowered or eradicated completely, the researchers hope the outcomes underscore the necessity to enhance, relatively than lower, help for girls’s well being—for the good thing about moms’ well being, in addition to the well being of their kids, households, and communities.
“If we want to protect infant health, the first step is to recognize the shared health outcomes between mothers and their infants,” says examine lead writer Dr. Eugene Declercq, professor of group well being sciences at BUSPH. “Improving women’s health is a worthy goal in itself, but this research reminds us that healthier mothers are also the foundation for protecting the health of their infants and, ultimately, their families.”
For the examine, Dr. Declercq and colleagues at BUSPH, Tufts College College of Drugs, the Massachusetts Division of Public Well being, the College of Colorado, and Evalogic Companies, Inc. utilized statewide information on Massachusetts hospital data relating to maternal and toddler well being and deaths from 1999 to 2021. Amongst 1,617,054 reside births between 1999 and 2020, there have been 474 pregnancy-associated maternal deaths, outlined as deaths from any trigger throughout being pregnant or as much as one 12 months postpartum.
The general pregnancy-associated demise ratio in Massachusetts was 29.3 per 100,000 reside births and the general toddler mortality fee was 4.06 per 1,000 reside births. When moms died, the toddler mortality fee was 55 per 1,000 deaths, and that fee elevated to 87.9 per 1,000 deaths when the mom had a situation related to SMM, comparable to renal failure, hypertension, eclampsia, and sepsis.
In line with prior analysis, the examine recognized the connection of toddler deaths to different potential threat elements, together with births to moms who had been older than 40, in addition to moms who had public insurance coverage, used opioids, had a poor well being historical past, had multiple child at a time, or had been non-Hispanic Black—however the hyperlinks between toddler demise and SMM or pregnancy-associated demise had been a lot stronger than another threat issue.
Moms’ deaths throughout the examine interval had been most strongly related to SMM, a historical past of opioid use, and having 4 or extra kids. A number of the causes of toddler mortality had been hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and congenital coronary heart defects amongst untimely infants, whereas full-gestation infants skilled deaths from accidents, delivery asphyxia, congenital malformation, and unknown causes.
Notably, Massachusetts had the bottom toddler mortality fee within the nation throughout the examine interval, so whereas these outcomes will not be nationally consultant, it is probably that different states are going through extra dire toddler well being penalties on account of maternal morbidity and mortality.
“Our extensive work using longitudinally linked data in the Pregnancy-to-Early Life database in Massachusetts has importantly shown that there are missed opportunities to identify and follow mothers and their children for adverse health outcomes,” says examine co-author Dr. Howard Cabral, professor of biostatistics at BUSPH. “Investing in maternal health is critical for public health policy and practice.”
Extra info:
Eugene Declercq et al, Relationship Between Maternal Demise and Toddler Outcomes in a Longitudinal, Inhabitants-Primarily based Dataset, Obstetrics & Gynecology (2025). DOI: 10.1097/aog.0000000000006071
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A mom’s demise throughout or after being pregnant might enhance threat of toddler’s demise or hospitalization (2025, September 26)
retrieved 27 September 2025
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