De moedersterfte voorbij?

– Three women, aged 33, 27, and 31 years, had serious gestational problems (pre-eclampsia with cerebral haemorrhage, toxic shock syndrome with multiple organ failure, and hypertension complicated by prolonged circulatory arrest, respectively), but eventually survived, albeit with serious handicap (cognitive and motor disturbances, blindness, and persistent vegetative state, respectively). When the maternal mortality ratio is as low as it currently is in the Netherlands (10 women in 100.000 live births), it is worthwhile to assess cases of severe maternal morbidity. The cases presented lead to the pertinent question whether obstetric interventions to prevent death may not sometimes be worse than accepting death itself.