The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust calls for urgent action to stop deaths from ectopic pregnancy following the publication of the latest MBRACCE report, “Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care”. The report looks at maternal deaths in the UK between 2020-2022. It shows that women are still dying from early pregnancy problems and ectopic pregnancy remains the most frequent cause of maternal death in early pregnancy.
The MBRRACE team identified concerns over the number of deaths due to ectopic pregnancy which led to the review of deaths due to early pregnancy causes occurring in 2021-22 being “expedited” – meaning this review happened more quickly.
During such two-year period in the UK and Ireland, 12 women died from an early pregnancy-related cause. These were all due to ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy deaths have risen again – from 5 reported in 2019, to 8 in the 2022 report, to now 12. This is an alarming trend and ectopic pregnancy deaths in this report is almost twice the rate in 2018-20.*
The report states that all 12 women who died from an ectopic pregnancy could have had better care. Improvements to care may have made a difference to the outcome for nine women (75%).
One of the key recommendations is that ambulance service methods for categorising risk should be revised to ensure that 999 calls regarding women who are pregnant, recently pregnant, or may be pregnant are appropriately looked after.
The report highlights the need for women and clinicians to be aware of the symptoms of ectopic pregnancy and to “Think Ectopic”.
Munira Oza, Chief Executive of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, said:
“It is shocking that all the women who died due to early pregnancy causes were because of an ectopic pregnancy. Our thoughts are with their families.
“The MBRRACE team were concerned with the number of ectopic pregnancy deaths and acted by speeding up the review – and we thank them for highlighting what is happening. The UK death rate from ectopic pregnancy has increased yet again. This is unacceptable and lessons must be learned.
“Crucially, the report states that women and clinicians need to be aware of the typical symptoms of ectopic pregnancy and “Think Ectopic”. This is not new – the previous report also highlighted the importance of public and health professional awareness of ectopic pregnancy.
“Endorsed by the Royal College of General Practitioners, our Think Ectopic campaign explicitly reminds health professionals about ectopic pregnancy and symptoms and time critical next steps. We cannot reiterate strongly enough that, until pregnancy can be excluded, ectopic pregnancy should be considered for women of reproductive age who have symptoms.”
*8 deaths in 2018-2020 (the 2022 report covers three years) to 12 deaths in 2021-22 (current report covers two years)
- 2024 MBRRACE Maternal Deaths and Morbidity Report 2020-2022
- 2022 MBRRACE Maternal Deaths and Morbidity Report 2018-2020