The medical and legal aspects of maternal mortality

Abstract

Sudden unexpected changes in the life of a family create many different emotions in various family members. The death of a young woman during or after her pregnancy is especially difficult because of the strain it places on family dynamics. One of the consequences is that there is, commonly, a newborn, and perhaps other children, without a mother and caregiver. In families that relied on both parents working, there are financial hardships imposed by the death. There is the emotional void that is felt by her partner, parents, sisters, brothers, and extended family. This extreme stress leads to questions about the death that need to be addressed by the health care providers. If the anger that is part of the grieving process is not adequately resolved, healing cannot occur. It is then that the family may pursue the legal process to help obtain answers about what happened and, more importantly, why it happened to their loved one.