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Question 636
Clinical Management → Clinical Practice
Classification
Question
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Maternal mortality classification
Question Stem
A woman with pre-existing cardiac disease deteriorates during pregnancy because of its physiological effects and dies 3 months after the pregnancy ends. Which classification best fits the definitions?
Options
A
Direct maternal death
B
Indirect maternal death occurring within 42 days
C
Coincidental death
D
Late maternal death due to an indirect cause
E
Direct maternal death occurring during the puerperium
Explanation
Cardiac disease aggravated by the physiological effects of pregnancy is an indirect cause. Because death occurred between 42 days and 1 year after pregnancy, it is a late maternal death. It is not coincidental because pregnancy contributed to the death.
Option Validity
A) Cardiac disease aggravated by pregnancy is an indirect rather than direct cause, and the death occurred after 42 days.
B) The cause is indirect, but three months after pregnancy is outside the within-42-days maternal-death interval.
C) The cardiac disease was aggravated by pregnancy, so the death is not unrelated or coincidental.
E) Neither the cause nor the timing fits a direct maternal death in the puerperium.
Further Reading
Saxena MRCOG-1 Basic Sciences — Principles of Clinical Practice, printed p. 6.