Table 3.
Characteristics of women who died in the UK 2009 to 2019 from direct or indirect causes while pregnant or within 42 days after giving birth and control women from four UKOSS studies.
| Women who died (N = 801) |
UKOSS control women (N = 2210) |
OR (95% CI) | P value | aORa (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number (%) | Number (%) | |||||
| Socio-demographic characteristics | ||||||
| Age group (6 levels) | ||||||
| <20 | 35 (4) | 119 (5) | 1.15 (0.74–1.78) | 0.546 | 1.13 (0.68–1.87) | 0.647 |
| 20–24 | 94 (12) | 366 (17) | 1 (ref.) | – | – | – |
| 25–29 | 190 (24) | 602 (27) | 1.23 (0.93–1.62) | 0.148 | 1.19 (0.86–1.64) | 0.300 |
| 30–34 | 210 (26) | 646 (29) | 1.27 (0.96–1.67) | 0.093 | 1.17 (0.85–1.61) | 0.348 |
| 35–40 | 195 (24) | 357 (16) | 2.13 (1.60–2.83) | 0.000 | 1.83 (1.31–2.56) | 0.000 |
| ≥40 | 77 (10) | 117 (5) | 2.56 (1.78–3.70) | 0.000 | 1.90 (1.23–2.94) | 0.004 |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 3 (<1) | ||||
| Ethnic group | ||||||
| Asian | 100 (12) | 249 (11) | 1.28 (0.99–1.64) | 0.055 | 1.57 (1.16–2.12) | 0.004 |
| Black | 105 (13) | 106 (5) | 3.15 (2.37–4.20) | 0.000 | 3.13 (2.21–4.43) | 0.000 |
| Chinese/Other | 23 (3) | 44 (2) | 1.66 (1.00–2.78) | 0.052 | 1.76 (0.97–3.19) | 0.061 |
| Mixed or Multiple | 14 (2) | 32 (1) | 1.39 (0.74–2.63) | 0.307 | 1.08 (0.51–2.29) | 0.837 |
| White (inc. missing) | 559 (70) | 1779 (81) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Known to have smoked during pregnancy | ||||||
| No | 590 (74) | 1751 (79) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Yes | 211 (26) | 459 (21) | 1.36 (1.13–1.65) | 0.001 | 1.57 (1.24–1.97) | 0.000 |
| Medical characteristics | ||||||
| Bodyweight | ||||||
| Underweight | 13 (2) | 43 (2) | 0.98 (0.52–1.84) | 0.949 | 0.73 (0.36–1.50) | 0.392 |
| Normal | 321 (40) | 1040 (47) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Overweight | 200 (25) | 584 (26) | 1.11 (0.91–1.36) | 0.317 | 1.02 (0.81–1.30) | 0.838 |
| Obese | 252 (31) | 478 (22) | 1.71 (1.40–2.08) | 0.000 | 1.46 (1.16–1.85) | 0.001 |
| Missing | 15 (2) | 65 (3) | ||||
| Known epilepsy | ||||||
| No | 749 (94) | 2192 (99) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Yes | 52 (6) | 18 (1) | 8.45 (4.92–14.54) | 0.000 | 20.98 (11.83–37.23) | 0.000 |
| Known hypertension | ||||||
| No | 765 (96) | 2201 (>99) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Yes | 36 (4) | 9 (<1) | 11.51 (5.52–24.00) | 0.000 | 14.95 (6.79–32.93) | 0.000 |
| Known cardiac disease | ||||||
| No | 754 (94) | 2188 (99) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Yes | 47 (6) | 22 (1) | 6.20 (3.71–10.36) | 0.000 | 16.53 (9.59–28.47) | 0.000 |
| Known diabetes | ||||||
| No | 775 (97) | 2201 (>99) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Yes | 64 (3) | 9 (<1) | 8.20 (3.83–17.59) | 0.000 | 15.70 (6.54–37.71) | 0.000 |
| Other known pre-existing medical problems | ||||||
| No | 368 (46) | 1777 (80) | 1 (ref.) | – | – | – |
| Yes | 433 (54) | 433 (20) | 4.83 (4.06–5.75) | 0.000 | 7.39 (6.04–9.04) | 0.000 |
| Pregnancy related characteristics | ||||||
| Parity | ||||||
| 0 | 308 (38) | 926 (42) | 1 (ref.) | – | – | – |
| 1 to 2 | 358 (45) | 1057 (48) | 1.02 (0.85–1.21) | 0.840 | NAb | |
| ≥3 | 128 (16) | 227 (10) | 1.70 (1.32–2.18) | 0.000 | NAb | |
| Missing | 7 (1) | 0 | ||||
| Known multiple pregnancy | ||||||
| No | 777 (97) | 2176 (98) | 1 (ref.) | – | 1 (ref.) | – |
| Yes | 24 (3) | 34 (2) | 1.98 (1.17–3.35) | 0.012 | 2.01 (1.05–3.84) | 0.035 |
| Known gestational diabetes | ||||||
| No | 763 (95) | 2135 (97) | 1 (ref.) | – | NAb | – |
| Yes | 38 (5) | 75 (3) | 1.42 (0.95–2.11) | 0.086 | NAb | – |
a
Adjusted for Maternal age, Ethnic group, smoking in pregnancy, BMI, parity, known history of epilepsy, hypertension, cardiac disease, diabetes, other medical conditions, parity, known multiple pregnancy and gestational diabetes.
b
The multivariable model showed that increasing parity and known gestational diabetes no longer contributed significantly to risk of maternal death and adjusted ORs for these factors are not shown.