Maternal Mortality

Pregnancy-related deaths spiked during the pandemic. The mortality rate for Black women is more than 2 times the rate for white women.

Maternal mortality rates by race/ethnicity, U.S.

Pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births

Sources: CDC Provisional Mortality Statistics (deaths) and CDC Natality Information (births) and GAO. Notes: Rates based on fewer than 20 deaths are suppressed (not available) because of reliability and confidentiality. A maternal death is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.

Giving birth can be life-threatening and pregnancy-related deaths are more common in the U.S. than in any other developed country. In 2020, the U.S. had 24 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births — more than 3 times the rate of other high income countries.¹ Provisional data for 2021 shows that maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the U.S. spiked to 33. Among maternal deaths, racial disparities persist. Pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. were 2.6 times more likely for Black people (70) than for white people (27) during 2021. Black women have historically faced racial discrimination, bias, and inequity in health care systems, for pregnancy-related and other care.^2,3,4,5,6,7

According to GAO estimates, 25% of pregnancy-related deaths that occurred in 2020 and 2021 listed Covid as a contributing cause of death. Covid complications were a driver of the spike in maternal deaths, with experts expressing the need for more research on the impact of Covid-19 in pregnant people.^8,9,10 Black and Hispanic communities were disproportionately impacted by Covid, facing barriers to quality health care, economic and community safety, transportation and more.^11,12,13

Maternal morbidity — short- or long-term health problems related to pregnancy, birth, or postpartum period — is largely overlooked in the U.S. It affects 50,000-60,000 people annually, with similar racial, regional, and age disparities as maternal death rates.^14,15 Among efforts to reduce maternal health disparities, the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act included a 12-month postpartum coverage extension option that expanded Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months after giving birth.^16,17 27 states have implemented the extension, 9 of which are Southern states (FL, GA, KY, LA, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV).¹⁸

1. “Health and Health Care for Women of Reproductive Age”. Gunja, Seervai, Zephyrin, and Williams. The Commonwealth Fund. April, 2022. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2022/apr/health-and-health-care-women-reproductive-age

2. “Health Equity Among Black Women in the United States”. Chinn, Martin, and Redmond. Journal of Women’s Health. February, 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8020496/

3. “Implicit Bias and Racial Disparities in Health Care”. Bridges. American Bar Association. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-state-of-healthcare-in-the-united-states/racial-disparities-in-health-care/

4. “How Our Health Care System Treats Black Mothers Differently”. Seervai. The Commonwealth Fund. October, 2019. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/podcast/2019/oct/how-our-health-care-system-treats-black-mothers-differently

5. “Racial Misconceptions in Healthcare Are Killing Black Women”. Blount, Biggers. Healthline. October, 2022. https://www.healthline.com/health/racial-misconceptions-in-healthcare-are-killing-black-women

6. “Working Together to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality”. CDC. April, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality/index.html

7. “The Article That Could Help Save Black Women's Lives”. Stallings. Oprah.com. https://www.oprah.com/health_wellness/the-article-that-could-help-save-black-womens-lives#ixzz5VRnkBHiz

8. “Outcomes Worsened and Disparities Persisted During the Pandemic”. U.S. Government Accountability Office. October, 2022. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105871.pdf

9. “All-Cause Maternal Mortality in the US Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. Thoma, Declercq. Jama Network. June, 2022. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2793640

10. “Pregnancy-related deaths climbed in pandemic’s first year”. Tanner. AP News. February, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-health-health-statistics-00f3a7a2ecf362d06d6b3131a2bf5cf2

11. “Tracking Social Determinants of Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. Drake, Rudowitz. Kaiser Family Foundation. April, 2022. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/tracking-social-determinants-of-health-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

12. “Health Disparities are a Symptom of Broader Social and Economic Inequities”. Artiga. Kaiser Family Foundation. June, 2020. https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/health-disparities-symptom-broader-social-economic-inequities/

13. “Separate and unequal: Structural racism and infant mortality in the US”. Wallace, Crear-Perry, Richardson, Tarver, and Theall. Health Place. May, 2017. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28363132/

14. “Severe Maternal Morbidity in the United States: A Primer”. Declercq, Zephyrin. The Commonwealth Fund. October, 2021. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2021/oct/severe-maternal-morbidity-united-states-primer

15. “Associations Between Comorbidities and Severe Maternal Morbidity”. Brown, Adams, George, and Moore. Obstetrics & Gynecology. November, 2020. https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/2020/11000/Associations_Between_Comorbidities_and_Severe.5.aspx

16. “Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Efforts to Address Them”. Hill, Artiga, and Ranji. Kaiser Family Foundation. November, 2022. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-current-status-and-efforts-to-address-them/

17. “Medicaid Enrollment Patterns During the Postpartum Year”. Corallo, Tolbert, Saunders, and Frederiksen. Kaiser Family Foundation. July, 2022. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-enrollment-patterns-during-the-postpartum-year/ 

18. “Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Extension Tracker”. Kaiser Family Foundation. December, 2022. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-postpartum-coverage-extension-tracker/