Overdose has become the leading cause of maternal death in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, according to a new report that raises the alarm about the “serious and preventable harms” experienced by some of B.C.’s most vulnerable mothers.
The health authority published “Perinatal Health: A Review of Serious Harms” this week, as the province marks 10 years since the toxic drug crisis was declared a public health emergency.
Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, told CTV News the report analyzed more than a decade of perinatal data on illicit drug use and pregnancy to come to its distressing conclusion.
“We’ve spent a lot of resources and effort in Canada to ensure that pregnancy and childbirth are healthy, safe. Every time a woman dies, an infant dies, we should consider that a tragedy,” she said.
Between 2010 and 2024, there were 25 women who died in the year following childbirth. Of those, 14 suffered a fatal overdose. Among the women who died, a lack of adequate prenatal care, housing insecurity and mental illness overlapped with substance use to increase vulnerability. Indigenous women and women living on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver were significantly overrepresented, according to the report.
The majority of maternal deaths were recorded three months after childbirth, suggesting a heightened risk during that time, the report said.
The report also noted that between 2000 and 2006, just two maternal deaths linked to drug overdoses were recorded across the entire province.
Data on how many women died while pregnant is not available, and the report acknowledges that the prevalence of substance use during pregnancy is likely underreported in part because some pregnant women who use drugs avoid prenatal care altogether.
The review of patient charts also found babies born to mothers with a documented history of drug use were more than three times more likely to die, a risk compounded in cases where there was a lack of prenatal care. In total, 12 infant deaths linked to substance use were reviewed by the health authority.
“It’s a profoundly emotional topic. These are mothers and babies that died,” Dr. Althea Hayden, with Vancouver Coastal Health, told CTV News.
“These are very vulnerable families.”
But Hayden said she sees a “profound motivation to change” among expectant moms struggling with substance use—and that the report recommends some of the ways these women can be better supported inside and outside of the health-care system.
The recommendations include better integrating substance use treatment with perinatal care, expanding low-barrier services beyond those currently available in the city of Vancouver, increasing available supports during the highest risk post-partum period, addressing housing insecurity, and creating culturally safe and specific resources for Indigenous women.
The complete report is available online.
