maternal death

CONSEQUENCE OF MATERNAL DEATH

In-utero babies who died when their mothers died either from a homicide or because of a drug overdose or some other reason. This is often labeled by the medical examiner as intrauterine fetal demise.

Indirect obstetric deaths are those resulting from pre-existing diseases or conditions that developed during pregnancy and were aggravated by the physiological effects of pregnancy, but not directly caused by obstetric complications.

A mother’s death from a drug overdose would be considered an indirect obstetric death because the drug use is a pre-existing condition that was aggravated by the pregnancy. The death of the in-utero baby is a consequence of the maternal death.

The death of an in-utero baby due to the mother dying from a homicide is often referred to as a “fetal death” or “unborn victim” in legal and medical contexts. In the United States, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act recognizes an unborn child as a legal victim if they are injured or killed during the commission of certain federal violent crimes, including homicide. This means that if a pregnant woman is murdered, resulting in the death of her unborn child, the perpetrator can be charged with a separate offense for the death of the fetus.

In medical terms, the death of a fetus due to the mother’s death from a homicide would be classified as a fetal death resulting from maternal trauma.

The county does have a case where a one-year-old died from dehydration after his mother died in their apartment.

(L.A.) Michael Norton III, One-Year-Old, Died at a Residence