Maternal sepsis: Opportunity for improvement

Maternal sepsis is an important cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Maternal sepsis can be a severe complication of pregnancy, which, if untreated, can rapidly progress to shock and eventually death. Maternal sepsis is also associated with an increased risk of newborn death, with maternal fever intra partum increasing the odds of neonatal mortality approximately 10 times.1 A recent World Health Organization (WHO) systematic analysis of global, regional, and sub-regional estimates of the causes of maternal death found that sepsis accounted for 10.7% (5.9–18.6) of all maternal deaths.2 Estimates varied between high-income countries (4.7%, 2.4–11.1) and low-income countries (10.7%, 5.9–18.6).