Pregnancy-Related Deaths in the US, 2018-2022

The US has the highest rate of preganncy-related death among high-income countries, and disparities continue to widen despite many of these deaths being largely preventable.

To examine the age-standardized national rates of pregnancy-related death from 2018 to 2022 in the US, stratified by cause, and to compare the rates across state and race and ethnicity. Design, Setting, and Participants: This serial cross-sectional study used nationwide data on births and pregnancy-related deaths from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research. All pregnancy-related deaths among women aged 15 to 54 years from 2018 to 2022 were included. Exposure: State, race and ethnicity, and age. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific maternal death and late maternal death (ie, deaths occurring >42 days and up to 1 year after pregnancy). The age-standardized annual and aggregated rate of pregnancy-related mortality (ASR) was estimated by age group and race and ethnicity, and state-specific crude pregnancy-related mortality rates per 100 000 live births and 95% CIs were calculated.