Advanced Maternal Age Monitoring Related

Review Advanced Maternal Age Monitoring related questions and content

A patient with a history of hypertension is giving birth. During delivery, the staff was not able to stabilize the patient's blood pressure. As a result, the patient died shortly after delivery. This is an example of what type of death?

  • A. Early maternal death
  • B. Late maternal death
  • C. Direct obstetric death
  • D. Indirect obstetric death
Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The correct answer is D: Indirect obstetric death. In this scenario, the patient's death was not directly caused by the obstetric event of giving birth, but rather by a pre-existing condition (hypertension) that was exacerbated during delivery. Indirect obstetric deaths are those caused by pre-existing conditions or external factors that are aggravated by the physiological effects of pregnancy. In contrast, early maternal death (choice A) occurs within 42 days of termination of pregnancy but is directly related to the pregnancy process. Late maternal death (choice B) occurs between 43 days and 1 year after termination of pregnancy. Direct obstetric deaths (choice C) are deaths resulting from obstetric complications during pregnancy, delivery, or postpartum period.