The fastest growing cause of women dying in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK is obesity.
Over half of the 295 women who died during or after pregnancy between 2003 and 2005 were either overweight or obese.
Some experts say the number of deaths - out of two million pregnancies - is quite low but the overall trend is very worrying.
A Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths (CEMACH) report calls for more support and advice for obese women before and during pregnancy. Obese pregnant women are probably four to five times more likely to suffer maternal death than a woman of normal weight - and there is a similar risk of their babies dying.
Figures suggest that a modest amount of extra weight during pregnancy carries little extra risk, but obesity poses a significant problem. 15% of the mums who died were morbid or super-morbidly obese.
Overall, the UK has one of the lowest rates of maternal death in the world. However, the death rate in the UK has begun to rise. In 2003-05 it stood at almost 13.95 per 100,000 births, up from 13.07 in 2000-02, and just 9.83 in 1985-87.
With obesity levels predicted to soar, experts say it is vital that women are fully aware they should try to get to a healthy weight before trying to conceive. Excess weight not only puts a woman at risk of medical complications, it can mask symptoms and cause logistical problems.
Obese patients face higher risks of certain complications.
The most common are dangerously high blood pressure, heart disease such as angina which could cause a heart attack in pregnancy - and obese patients are much more prone to bleeding.
5 Dec 2007
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