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Question 644
Clinical Management → Clinical Practice
Classification
Question
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Indirect maternal death
Question Stem
Which example is classified as an indirect maternal death ?
Options
A
Fatal haemorrhage caused by an obstetric complication
B
Death from eclampsia
C
Death from pre-existing cardiac disease aggravated by the physiological effects of pregnancy
D
Death from an unrelated accidental cause during pregnancy
E
Death caused by an incorrect obstetric intervention
Explanation
Indirect deaths result from pre-existing disease, or disease developing during pregnancy that is not due to direct obstetric causes, but is aggravated by the physiological effects of pregnancy. Cardiac disease is the example.
Option Validity
A) Fatal haemorrhage from an obstetric complication is a direct maternal death.
B) Eclampsia is given as an example of a direct obstetric cause.
D) An unrelated accidental cause is coincidental rather than indirect.
E) Death resulting from an incorrect obstetric intervention falls within the definition of a direct death.
Further Reading
Saxena MRCOG-1 Basic Sciences — Principles of Clinical Practice, printed p. 6.