Table 4 Specific factors of suboptimal care involving obesity among obese women who died with suboptimal care (n = 14).

From: Understanding maternal mortality in women with obesity and the role of care they receive: a national case-control study

Type of obesity-related suboptimal carea

Description

Number of women concerned

A. Failures in preconceptional evaluation

Inadequate assessment of concomitant risk of obesity with severe comorbidities

1

B. Inadequate antenatal care

Underestimation of clinical signs (tiredness, dyspnoea, pain) systematically and wrongly attributed to obesity and leading to misdiagnosis of the condition that led to death

6

C. Failures in diagnostic or therapeutic procedures

Technical difficulties in obese patients: medical imaging procedures, venous access, endotracheal intubation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

8

D. Underdosed treatment

Insufficient dose of antibiotics or anticoagulants according to body mass index

5

  1. aNon-exclusive categories.
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