Mums’ death risk ‘3 times higher in UK’

UK mums are three times more likely to die during pregnancy or soon after than those in Denmark and Norway, a study found.

The report on European nations found Britain had 9.6 deaths per 100,000 births – the second highest maternal death rate.

Only Slovakia was worse, with 10.9 deaths per 100,000 births, compared with 2.7 in Denmark and 3.4 in Norway.

Suicide and heart disease were the leading causes of the deaths but blood clots were also a major threat in the UK.

The authors of the study, led by Oxford University, said the rate “remains an important indicator of the quality of the care provided and health system performance”.

WORRY Expectant mother