Suicide the leading cause of late maternal deaths, report finds

Aolish Gormley leads a campaign calling for one year of access to perinatal mental health supports after giving birth rather than the current six to eight-week period. Picture: James Connolly

Suicide was the leading cause of late maternal deaths in Ireland between 2022 and 2024, with seven women dying by suicide within a year of giving birth, new figures show.

A late maternal death is the death of a woman from any cause occurring between 42 days and one year after the end of a pregnancy.