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Blood doctrine · Claim record

A single-centre New York series (391 deliveries over 11 years) recorded two maternal deaths among Witness women, a rate of 512 against 12 per 100,000 live births (risk ratio 44, 95% CI 9-211; the interval is wide because it rests on two deaths). A Dutch nationwide case-note study (deaths 1983-2006) reported a maternal mortality ratio of 68 per 100,000 among Witnesses: a six-fold increase overall and 130-fold for death from major obstetric haemorrhage, and a 3.1-fold increase in serious morbidity from haemorrhage (14 v 4.5 per 1,000). The abstract gives no confidence intervals and the estimate rests on a small number of deaths.

Claim ID claim-blood-medical-maternalConcerns 2009Independent finding
Independent finding · 2009 Verified

A single-centre New York series (391 deliveries over 11 years) recorded two maternal deaths among Witness women, a rate of 512 against 12 per 100,000 live births (risk ratio 44, 95% CI 9-211; the interval is wide because it rests on two deaths). A Dutch nationwide case-note study (deaths 1983-2006) reported a maternal mortality ratio of 68 per 100,000 among Witnesses: a six-fold increase overall and 130-fold for death from major obstetric haemorrhage, and a 3.1-fold increase in serious morbidity from haemorrhage (14 v 4.5 per 1,000). The abstract gives no confidence intervals and the estimate rests on a small number of deaths. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2001BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 2009

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Peer-reviewed / scholarly Verified

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “Are women who are Jehovah's Witnesses at risk of maternal death?”

2001 · pp.185(4):893-895 · Singla AK, Lapinski RH, Berkowitz RL, Saphier CJ · Elsevier

“There were 2 maternal deaths among the women who were Jehovah's Witnesses, for a rate of 512 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births versus 12 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (risk ratio, 44; 95% CI, 9-211).”

332 women, 391 deliveries, Mount Sinai (11 years); 6% obstetric haemorrhage. PMID 11641673.

Official source Archived or alternative copy

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Abstract opened via Europe PMC.

Corroborated by. src-vanwolfswinkel-2009-bjog

Notes. Small numbers (2 deaths) — wide confidence interval; say so.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-singla-2001-ajog

Peer-reviewed / scholarly Verified

BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, “Maternal mortality and serious maternal morbidity in Jehovah's witnesses in The Netherlands”

2009 · pp.116(8):1103-1108 · Van Wolfswinkel ME, Zwart JJ, Schutte JM, Duvekot JJ, Pel M, Van Roosmalen J · Wiley

“Women who are Jehovah's witnesses are at a six times increased risk for maternal death, at a 130 times increased risk for maternal death because of major obstetric haemorrhage and at a 3.1 times increased risk for serious maternal morbidity because of obstetric haemorrhage”

Nationwide case-note study 1983-2006 (mortality) and 2004-2006 (morbidity); MMR 68 per 100,000. PMID 19515150.

Official source Archived or alternative copy

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Abstract opened via Europe PMC.

Corroborated by. src-singla-2001-ajog

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-vanwolfswinkel-2009-bjog

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