671,255 women gave birth in NHS hospitals in England in 2012-20131. This represents an increase of 2.9% over the preceding three years (652,377 deliveries in 2009-2010). Most of these women are healthy and have a 'normal' labour. There was a significant reduction in maternal deaths in the UK in the period 2009/12 compared with 2006/09 to 10.12 per 100,000 pregnant women. This was despite an increased number of births, as well as older maternal age, higher rates of obesity and a greater proportion of births to women born outside the UK, all factors associated with a higher risk of maternal death2.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/doctor/normal-labour