Incidence of maternal near miss in hospital childbirth and postpartum: data from the Birth in Brazil study

This study evaluated data on the incidence of maternal near miss identified on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria from the Birth in Brazil survey. The study was conducted between February 2011 and October 2012. The results presented are estimates for the study population (2,337,476 births), based on a sample of 23,894 women interviewed. The results showed an incidence of maternal near miss of 10.21 per 1,000 live births and a near-miss-to-mortality ratio of 30.8 maternal near miss to every maternal death. Maternal near miss was identified most prevalently by clinical criteria, at incidence of 5.2 per 1,000 live births. Maternal near miss was associated with maternal age 35 or more years (RR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1-2.5), a history of previous cesarean delivery (RR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1-3.4) and high-risk pregnancy (RR = 4.5; 95% CI: 2.8-7.0). incidence of maternal near miss was also higher at hospitals in capital cities (RR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.3-3.8) and those belonging to Brazil's national health service, the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) (RR = 3.2; 95% CI: 1.6-6.6). Improved quality of childbirth care services can help reduce maternal mortality in Brazil.