Maternal ‘Near Misses’: A Concept Analysis.

Aim: This review and concept analysis clarifies the concept of a near miss in maternity care and seeks to understand how maternity near misses and incidents that do not reach the patient are conceptualised.

Design: Concept analysis

Methods: Papers were systematically searched for studies published between January 2011 and April 2024. Grey literature searches were conducted. Reference lists from included studies were hand searched.

Results: An analysis of maternity near miss studies identified severe maternal complications and threat to survival as defining attributes. Antecedents included pregnancy and consequences included long term maternal morbidity and neonatal morbidity and mortality.