Citation

Kotb NA, Ibrahim SF. J. Forensic Leg. Med. 2018; 60: 25-29.

Affiliation

Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Saudi Arabia; Faculty of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint-Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: samahibraheem@yahoo.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jflm.2018.09.003

PMID

30223232

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-associated deaths are a widely recognized phenomenon, that warrants in-depth investigation. Of the 319 suspicious deaths of adult women (>20 years) autopsied during 2011-2012, in the Cairo and Giza governorates, 37 (11.7%) women were pregnant at the time of the autopsy. This paper analyzes the corresponding demographic data, autopsy findings, and toxicological screening. THE RESULTS: Reveal that the number of deaths of pregnant women were higher in 2012 than in 2011. In addition, the number of cases from Giza exceeded those from Cairo (62.2% and 37.8%, respectively). Most cases involved married women (62.2%) in the third trimester of pregnancy (67.5%). Most deaths were predominantly un-intentional (51.4%) attributed to peri-partum complications. Homicidal deaths contributed to 43% of cases, and the husband was the suspect perpetrator in 37.5% of cases. Only two cases were associated with substance abuse.

CONCLUSION: the paper concludes that this analysis may inform future strategies to protect pregnant women from the hazards of violence and labor that threaten their lives.

Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Deaths; Egypt; Forensic medicine; Pregnant women; Violence