MBRRACE-UK: Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care 2023

MBRRACE-UK is the annual investigation into the deaths of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the year after birth. The 2023 report, which looks at maternal deaths between 2019 and 2021 in the UK, finds stark and widening social inequalities linked to deprivation and disadvantage. It shows that:

• Overall maternal deaths have increased by 15% since 2009, putting the Government on track to miss it's own target of reducing maternal mortality by 50% by 2025.
• Women living in the most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to die during pregnancy and in the year after birth, compared to women in the most affluent parts of the country. 
• 21% of women who died were in contact with social care services, a figure that has risen for the fourth consecutive year, up from 12% in the 2012-14 report.
• Women from Black ethnic backgrounds remain four times more likely to die compared to White women, and women from Asian ethnic backgrounds are twice as likely to die. 
• Improvements in care may have made a difference to the outcome in 52% of all maternal deaths, up from 38% in the 2018-20 report.

Birth Companions is pleased to have been part of the writing team on this important report.

Download the full report and lay summary below, and read our full response to these deeply concerning findings here.