Using National Vital Statistics System data, researchers compared pregnancy-associated deaths from natural causes in which substance use disorder was recorded as a contributing factor with deaths in which it was not. Deaths involving substance use disorder were less likely to occur during the postpartum period and more likely to be attributed to sepsis. The findings suggest that substance use disorder may be relevant to natural causes of maternal death as well as overdose and suicide, but the observational analysis cannot establish why these differences occur.
