Maternal suicide, a leading cause of death.

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day - when
we talk about mental health and awareness, we don't often talk about the absolute tragedy of suicide that can occur.

Here are some facts:

• Maternal suicide is still the leading cause of direct (pregnancy-related) death in the year after pregnancy.

• Almost a quarter of all deaths of women during pregnancy or up to a year after the end of pregnancy were from mental health-related causes.

• Assessors felt (in the below quotes research) that improvements in care might have made a difference in outcome for 67% of women who died by suicide.

• The incidence of maternal death in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women was more than 3 times as high as that for non-Indigenous women (including death by
suicide).

• More than 1 in 3 maternal deaths occurred in women who were aged 35 or over.