Violent Deaths during the Puerperal Gravidic Period: How to Classify Them?

Sandra Valongueiro, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Maria Bernadete C. Antunes, Universidade de Pernambuco

Violence during pregnancy represents a violation of women’s rights and increases the risk of maternal and perinatal morbimortality. This paper discusses the relationship between maternal deaths and violent deaths and proposes a classification to be added to Chapter XV, of the ICD – 10th. This classification can allow considering some violent deaths as maternal deaths associated to pregnancy, after careful investigation. In order to do so, a specific code was created to fulfill an empty category, i.e. O93, having as a reference the Chapter XX of the ICD 10th. With the implementation of this code will be possible to offer a standardized alternative to classify violent maternal deaths before the 11th Edition of the ICD and, to contribute with the argument that these deaths do not occur by chance, that they can be considered indirect obstetric maternal deaths, and that their exclusion from the indicator calculations increases the maternal mortality underreporting.