Development of a new definition of maternal near miss based on organ dysfunction in Latin America and the Caribbean: A prospective multicenter cohort study

Background There has been debate over whether the existing World Health Organization (WHO) criteria accurately represent the severity of maternal near misses. Objective This study assessed the diagnostic accuracy of two WHO clinical and laboratory organ dysfunction markers for determining the best cutoff values in a Latin American setting. Methods A prospective multicenter cohort study was conducted in five Latin American countries. Patients with severe maternal complications were followed up from admission to discharge. Organ dysfunction was determined using clinical and laboratory data, and participants were classified according to severe maternal outcomes. This study compares the diagnostic criteria of Latin American Centre for Perinatology, Network for Adverse Maternal Outcomes (CLAP/NAMO) to WHO standards. Results Of the 698 women studied, 15.2% had severe maternal outcomes. Most measured variables showed significant differences between individuals with and without severe outcomes (all P‐values