▁often ▁obsc ured ▁by ▁being ▁statist ically ▁track ed ▁under ▁' an est h esi ology '. ▁However , ▁evidence ▁suggests ▁that ▁if ▁this ▁is ▁in ▁fact ▁the ▁case , ▁the ▁practice ▁is ▁unlikely ▁to ▁account ▁for ▁more ▁than ▁a ▁small ▁fraction ▁of ▁mat ernal ▁death s : ▁one ▁study ▁of ▁mat ernal ▁mort ality ▁records ▁lists ▁the ▁total ▁share ▁of ▁mat ernal ▁mort ality ▁death s ▁recorded ▁as ▁stem ming ▁from ▁an est hes ia - related ▁comp lications ▁as ▁just ▁ 5 . 2 %. ▁A ▁study ▁of ▁an est hes ia - related ▁mat ernal ▁mort ality ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁between ▁ 1 9 7 9 ▁and ▁ 2 0 0 2 ▁found ▁the ▁share ▁of ▁mat ernal ▁mort ality ▁death s ▁caused ▁by ▁an est hes ia ▁to ▁be ▁just ▁ 1 . 6 %, ▁and ▁that ▁the ▁share ▁had ▁dropped ▁ 5 9 % ▁between ▁the ▁time ▁periods ▁exam ined . ▁ ▁Other ▁aspects ▁of ▁this ▁response ▁have ▁also ▁been ▁called ▁into ▁question ▁by ▁scientific ▁research . ▁First , ▁an ▁analysis ▁of ▁historical ▁data ▁from ▁Europe ▁and ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁concluded ▁that ▁in ▁developed ▁countries , ▁the ▁main ▁determin ant ▁of ▁mat ernal ▁mort ality ▁before ▁ 1 9 3 7 , ▁and ▁its ▁decl ine ▁since ▁the ▁ 1 9 3 0 s , ▁was ▁not ▁levels ▁of ▁pover ty ▁and ▁associated ▁mal nut r ition , ▁but ▁rather ▁the ▁overall ▁standard ▁of ▁mat ernal ▁care ▁provided ▁by ▁birth ▁attend ants . ▁ ▁Second , ▁with