After spiking in 2021, the maternal mortality rate in the U.S. improved significantly the following year, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..
In LA
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In January 2023, April Valentine died at Centinela Hospital. Her daughter was born by emergency C-section. She’d gone into the pregnancy with a plan, knowing Black mothers like herself were at higher risk.
The data shows that 817 women died of maternal causes in the U.S. in 2022, compared to 1,205 in 2021. These are deaths that take place during pregnancy or within 42 days following delivery, according to the World Health Organization, “from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.”
“I think that the bump [in 2021] reflects the pandemic and we’re returning to pre-pandemic levels,” says study author Donna Hoyert, who a health scientist at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The maternal mortality rate in 2022 was 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. That’s a significant decrease from the 2021 rate of 32.9, but it’s still much higher than the rate in other wealthy countries.
There continue to be enormous racial disparities in the U.S. maternal mortality rate as well — the rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,00 births in 2022, compared to a rate of 19 deaths for white women. Research shows the vast majority of these deaths are preventable.
Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell is an OB-GYN…
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