Deaths of mothers during childbirth are rising, and some potentially avoidable fatalities have happened because doctors and midwives do not have the appropriate professional skills, a report says.

Saving Mothers’ Lives, which looks at maternal deaths between 2002 and 2005, says that maternity services are failing to keep up with the growing complexity of childbirth.

It says: “A lack of clinical knowledge and skills among some doctors, midwives and other health professionals, senior and junior, was one of the leading causes of potentially avoidable mortality.”

The report, produced by the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health, calls for better communication between staff, better training, and greater awareness of the risks.

Many health professionals “failed to identify and manage common medical conditions or potential emergencies outside their immediate area of expertise” and had poor rescuscitation skills, the report says.

In many cases, “early warning signs of impending maternal collapse went unrecognised”.

Giving birth in Britain remains very safe for mothers, but is becoming statistically riskier as a result of immigration, obesity, and disadvantage.

— Half the women who died were overweight or obese, and more than 15 per cent were extremely obese.

— Women from the poorest communities, including minority ethnic communities, were up to seven times more likely to die.

— Women who were first examined 20 or more weeks into pregnancy, or who had no antenatal care at all represented only about one in 50 births, but one in five deaths.

Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “This report throws a spotlight on issues that need addressing urgently. More has to be done to improve women’s health and to bridge the chasm of health inequality separating rich and poor.”

She said that there was a “serious and worsening shortage of midwives” despite their being the workers who could do most to reverse the trends detailed in the report.

The inquiry found that in the three years between 2003 and 2005, 295 women died as a direct or indirect result of pregnancy and childbirth. The corresponding figure for 2000-2002 was 261, but births have also increased so the proportion was not statistically different. The rate of deaths was 13.95 per 100,000 births, a very small number. But the rate in 2000-02 was 13.07, and in 1985-87 it was 9.83.

The conclusion is that in the past 20 years maternity care has failed to improve. Its task has become harder, as more mothers are older, fatter, or from disadvantaged communities.

The commonest cause of death overall was heart disease. The report said: “In the main this reflects the growing incidence of acquired heart disease in younger women related to less healthy diets, smoking, alcohol and the growing epidemic of obesity.”

Six of the women who died had a body mass index (BMI) over 45 and two over 60. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

Gwyneth Lewis, director of the inquiry, said the number of deaths was being “artificially inflated” by figures for women entering Britain as migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.

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