Near Miss: A Retrospective Study on Severe Acute Maternal Morbidity

Introduction:Severe acute maternal morbidity (SAMM) or near miss (NM) is defined as a severe life-threatening obstetric complication of a woman who nearly died but survived a complication during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum (<42 days). Aims and objectives:(1) To study, determine, and analyze the prevalence of SAMM in Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital (RRMCH) over 5 years.(2) To study the outcomes of patients with SAMM.Materials and methods: This retrospective study was conducted at RRMCH, Bengaluru, in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology from 2020 to 2024 present day.Relevant data were retrieved from case files in the medical record department (MRD).Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined.Data were entered into a Microsoft (MS) Excel sheet and analyzed.The Chi-square test was used as a test of significance for qualitative data.Microsoft Excel and MS Word were used to obtain various types of graphs, such as bar and pie diagrams.Maternal mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio were calculated, and a p-value was derived.Results: There were 56 mothers found to suffer from SAMM.Different causes and complications of SAMM were listed.Of these, 33 of them required intensive care unit (ICU) admission.Four patients of 56 faced mortality.The maternal mortality rate was 83 per 1,00,000 deliveries, and the maternal mortality ratio was 83.96 per 1,00,000 live births.A p-value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant after assuming all the rules of statistical tests.Conclusion: Regular antenatal care (ANC) visits, close monitoring, and timely intervention play a vital role in maternal and fetal outcomes.