Maternal Mortality
The pregnancy-related death rate is 66% higher in the South than in the rest of the nation. Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, and Kentucky have the highest maternal mortality rates.
Maternal mortality rates, 2019-21
Pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births
Sources: CDC Provisional Mortality Statistics (deaths) and CDC National Vital Statistics System (births). Notes: Data are a three-year average. State 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 South than in the rest of the nation. There were 1,031 pregnancy-related deaths in the South during 2019-2021, a rate of 36 deaths per 100,000 live births. During the same period, the maternal mortality rate was 22 deaths per 100,000 live births in the rest of the nation. Mississippi had the highest rate of pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births (50 maternal deaths) followed by Tennessee (47), Louisiana (44), Alabama (43), Arkansas (43), and Kentucky (38).
Nationwide, by 2018, more than 17 women died per 100,000 births — twice the rate of other developed countries. The U.S. has a shortage of obstetrician-gynecologists and midwives compared to these countries. White women in the U.S. experience maternal mortality at rates higher than women regardless of race in other wealthy countries, and Black women experience rates 2.5 times that of white women in the U.S.1,2
“Maternal Mortality in the United States: A Primer”. Declercq, Zephyrin. The Commonwealth Fund. December, 2020. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-brief-report/2020/dec/maternal-mortality-united-states-primer
“Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care in the United States Compared to 10 Other Developed Countries”. Tikkanen, Gunja, FitzGerald, and Zephyrin. The Commonwealth Fund. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/nov/maternal-mortality-maternity-care-us-compared-10-countries
