Maternal Mortality

Maternal mortality is a metric used by nations to assess the overall well-being of their citizens. Accurate measures of maternal death including both pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths and their causes are crucial to understanding the health of a population. In their public health role, the forensic pathologist/medical examiner/coroner has the ability to gather and provide this vital information. As the vast majority of these deaths are unexpected, they fall under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner/coroner. Ideally all pregnancy-associated and pregnancy-related deaths would be reported to the medical examiner/coroner with a low threshold for accepting jurisdiction and performing an autopsy.

This webpage includes resources for the practicing forensic pathologist/medical examiner/coroner to utilize when investigating a maternal death.

Materials

• National Association of Medical Examiners Position Paper: Recommendations for the Investigation of Maternal Deaths
• Forensic Pathology Involvement in Maternal Mortality Review Committees - COMING SOON
• NAME 2026 Interim Meeting Program
• NAME 2026 Interim Meeting Handouts
• AFE Foundation Fact Sheet
• MMRC Guide
• MMRC Logic Model
• MMRC Pregnancy-Associated Deaths Reference Guide
• MMRC Decision Form

Maternal Health Organization in the United States 

• CDC Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System
• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
• Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)
• Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP)
• American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
  
• Commonwealth Fund
  
• US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health
  
• CDC Perinatal Quality Collaboratives
  
• Maternal Health Task Force