According to the state-based Maternal Mortality Review Committees, more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are preventable. The Global Burden of Disease study estimated a maternal mortality rate of 26.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in the United States in 2015, which was particularly high compared with countries with similar sociodemographic index. And the World Health Organization recently documented temporal increases in maternal mortality rates in the United States.
An original investigation published on April 9, 2025 in JAMA Network Obstetrics and Gynecology entitled Pregnancy-Related Deaths in the US, 2018-2022 stated, “The US has the highest rate of pregnancy-related death among high-income countries, and disparities continue to widen despite many of these deaths being largely preventable … During 2018 to 2022, there were 6283 pregnancy-related deaths, including 1891 late maternal deaths. The ASR increased by 27.7% from 25.3 deaths per 100 000 live births (95% CI, 23.7-26.9) in 2018 to 32.6 deaths per 100 000 live births (95% CI, 31.2-34.8) in 2022. The increase was observed across age group and was disproportionately driven by deaths that occurred among women aged 25 to 39 years (by 36.8%, 2018 vs 2022). There was a considerable variation in rates by state, ranging from 18.5 to 59.7 deaths per 100 000 live births. If the national rate was reduced to the lowest state rate, 2679 pregnancy-related deaths could have been prevented in 2018 to 2022. American Indian and Alaska Native women had the highest ASR (106.3 deaths per 100 000 live births), followed by non-Hispanic Black women (76.9 deaths per 100 000 live births). Although cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of the overall pregnancy-related deaths, cancer, mental and behavior disorders, and drug-induced and alcohol-induced death were important contributing causes of late maternal death.”
“According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pregnancy-related mortality rate was 2 to 3 times higher in the non-Hispanic Black and American Indian or Alaska Native populations than in the White population. Similarly, pregnancy-related mortality was 1.7 times higher in rural counties compared with large metropolitan counties. Nevertheless, most of the estimates relied on data prior to 2018, which may have resulted in underreporting.”
“[R]ates of pregnancy-related death increased by 27.7% in the US between 2018 and 2022, but there were nonmonotonic patterns, and the highest rate was in the year 2021. The increase was observed across age group with a disproportionate increase of 36.8% among women aged 25 to 39 years … the pregnancy-related death rate was 3.8 times higher among American Indian and Alaska Native women and 2.8 times higher among non-Hispanic Black women compared with the rate among non-Hispanic White women.”
If you or your child may have been injured during pregnancy, labor, or delivery as a result of medical malpractice in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your birth injury medical malpractice claim for you and represent you and/or your child in a birth injury medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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