Incidence, risk factors, and causes of maternal near-miss admitted to the intensive care unit in Yangzhou, China: A 5-year retrospective study

Abstract BackgroundThe maternal near-miss (MNM) criterion formulated by the WHO can dynamically evaluate the obstetric quality and maternal health in medical institutions. The study aims to explore the incidence, risk factors, and causes of MNM cases admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) within 5 years.MethodsThis study is a retrospective study. The data of MNM admitted to the ICU comes from the medical records of Subei People's Hospital in Yangzhou from 2015 to 2019. The study subjects meet at least one World Health Organization (WHO) criterion of MNM. The MNM who had not been admitted to the ICU in the same year served as the control group. We use descriptive analysis, Chi-Square test and Fisher’s exact test for data analysis.Results151 women met the WHO criteria of MNM and there was one maternal death in 2016. The average maternal near-miss rate（MNMR）for ICU admission was 3.5 per 1,000LBs, and the average MNM morbidity was 0.36%. The average maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 5 per 100,000LBs. The 5-year research period witnessed moderate growth in MNM admitted to the ICU. The region, referral, gravidity, prenatal examination, and mode of delivery were significantly related to the MNM admitted to the ICU(p<0.05). Concerning neonatal characteristics, there is a significant difference in preterm birth rate and low Apgar scores at 1 min and 5 min(p<0.05). The direct obstetric causes were the primary cause of MNM, regardless of the ICU admission. The leading direct obstetric causes of MNM admitted to the ICU were obstetric hemorrhage diseases(38.8%)，following hypertension diseases(18.8%), while the leading indirect obstetric cause of MNM admitted to the ICU was heart-related diseases (7.2%). MNM for the ICU admission were mostly postpartum (96.9%), who underwent multiple interventions.ConclusionsICU is one of the most important endpoints of MNM management. In the context of "universal two-child", medical institutions should strengthen multidisciplinary joint treatment. In the future, it needs to be expanded to multi-center research to determine the criteria for MNM admitted to the ICU.