Beyond maternal death: improving the quality of maternal care through national studies of 'near-miss' maternal morbidity

Beyond maternal death: improving the quality of maternal care through national studies of 'near-miss' maternal morbidity Studies of maternal mortality have been shown to result in important improvements to women’s health. It is now recognised that in countries such as the UK, where maternal deaths are rare, the study of near-miss severe maternal morbidity provides additional information to aid disease prevention, treatment and service provision. The study aimed to estimate the incidence of near-miss morbidities; describe different interventions and their impact on outcomes and costs; and compare an external confidential enquiry or a local review approach for investigating the quality of care for affected women. NHS National Institute for Health Research