Читать книгу Managing Medical and Obstetric Emergencies and Trauma - Группа авторов - Страница 25

Before the CEMDs started, maternal mortality had already dropped dramatically in the UK, from 400/100 000 in 1935 to 66/100 000 in 1952–1954 (in fact at this stage there were still problems with case ascertainment and a more realistic estimate was 90/100 000). The most rapid fall had occurred during the Second World War, contradicting the idea that social conditions are the major factor determining the safety of pregnancy. The reasons for the fall were the introduction of effective treatments as follows:

 Antibiotics: puerperal sepsis was the leading cause of maternal death in the 1930s, despite the widespread use of aseptic precautions; when sulphonamides were introduced in 1937 the effect on death rates was spectacular

 Blood transfusion became safe during the 1940s

 Ergometrine, for the treatment and prevention of postpartum haemorrhage, was introduced in the 1940s

In the 1930s, Britain had a well‐developed medical infrastructure, so that when effective treatments finally became available their effects were rapidly felt.