Pregnancy-Related Deaths in the U.S. Increased 27% in Five-Year Period, Affecting Women Between 25-39 Years of Age

• A new study published in JAMA Network Open on April 9 has found that pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. increased over 27% between 2018 and 2022
• Of the 6,283 pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. in that period, 1,891 were classified as “late maternal deaths”
• Experts are encouraging new mothers to see a doctor within the first three weeks of having a child

A new study has found that pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. increased 27.7% in a recent five-year period — with researchers calling it an “urgent public health priority.”

Published on Wednesday, April 9, in JAMA Network Open, the analysis took a closer look at long-term maternal health concerns by using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of postpartum deaths between 2018 and 2022.

Of the 6,283 pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. in that period, 1,891 were classified as “late maternal deaths,” meaning they took place within six weeks to a year after childbirth.

Study co-author Rose Molina of Harvard Medical School told STAT News that it’s “a hard time for this to come out.”

“We cannot take our eyes off of maternal health right now, and if anything, we need to not just maintain focus, but actually increase investment in maternal health to bring down some of what we’re seeing — increases in pregnancy-related death rates, but also persistent inequities by racial and ethnic groups,” Molina said.

Molina added to the New York Times that women need “access to high-quality care from the moment of conception to a full year after birth.”

The research is highlighting a few other numbers, as well.

In the study, cardiovascular disease was found to be the leading cause of the “overall pregnancy-related deaths” (4.7 deaths per 100 000 live births), whereas cancer, mental and behavior disorders, and drug-induced and alcohol-induced death were also listed as “important contributing causes of late maternal death.”

The highest increase in mortality rate (36.8%) happened for women between the ages of 25 and 39. American Indian and Alaska native women also had the highest mortality rates in terms of race and ethnicity, 3.8 times higher than white women, while Black women had the second-highest rates, 2.8 times higher than white women.

As for the overall 27% increase from 2018 to 2022, that meant deaths rose from 25.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018 to 32.6 per 100,000 live births in 2022. Pregnancy-related deaths also spiked to 44.1 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021, before falling to the 32.6 number in 2022.

As theTimes reports, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that women see a doctor within the first three weeks of having a child, and no later than three months after childbirth.

Dr. Tamika Auguste, author of the guidelines, told the outlet that patients should also be screened for depression and mental health issues. “If you have any hypertensive disorders, I’m going to see you three to five days after delivery,” she said, adding that the ACOG is no longer saying encouraging women to “wait six weeks.”

“Anyone else, even without hypertension, I want to see within two weeks.”

The study’s authors note that if nationwide maternity mortality rates of overall maternal deaths fell to California’s level — as the state had the “lowest rate at 18.5 deaths per 100,000 live births” — 2,679 pregnancy-related deaths could have been prevented.

“This study that we’re talking about today shows why this is not a political issue, and it’s really important that we all be focusing on how we can reduce maternal mortality and working together on it,” Marian Jarlenski, health policy professor at the University of Pittsburgh, told STAT News.