摘要：Objectives. This study sought to determine the prevalence of maternal morbidity during labor and delivery in the United States. Methods. Analyses focused on National Hospital Discharge Survey data available for women giving birth between 1993 and 1997. Results. The prevalence of specific types of maternal morbidity was low, but the burden of overall morbidity was high. Forty-three percent of women experienced some type of morbidity during their delivery hospitalization. Thirty-one percent (1.2 million women) had at least 1 obstetric complication or at least 1 preexisting medical condition. Conclusions. Maternal morbidity during delivery is frequent and often preventable. Reducing maternal morbidity is a national health objective, and its monitoring is key to improving maternal health. Nearly 4 million women give birth in the United States each year. 1 Until recently, the only national outcome indicator of maternal health—a woman’s health during pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium—was maternal mortality. 2 However, if priorities are to be established and effective interventions designed to improve maternal health, the burden of morbidity among women giving birth must be defined, and protective and risk factors must be identified. The Healthy People 2010 objectives include a new maternal health indicator: maternal morbidity during labor and delivery. 3 Several studies have shown that antepartum hospitalizations for pregnancy complications are common, with 15 to 25 hospital admissions for every 100 deliveries. 4– 7 However, most maternal deaths and serious complications occur at approximately the time of labor and delivery. 8 Population-based rates of certain specific complications (e.g., preeclampsia, placenta previa, abruptio placentae) have been reported 9 ; to our knowledge, however, no population-based data summarizing maternal morbidity during labor and delivery have been published. In this article, we describe national estimates during the period 1993 to 1997.
