CDC Finds 4 Out of 5 Pregnancy-related Deaths in the US Are Preventable

Pregnancy Pregnancy-related Deaths Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Maternal Health

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Sep 23, 01:48 pm

Photo: (Photo : GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images)

According to a new report, most deaths among pregnant women and new moms in the United States were preventable.

For more than 4 out of 5 American women who died during pregnancy, delivery, or up to a year postpartum, their deaths could have been avoided with reasonable changes by the community, health care providers, the patient, or others.

The data, published by the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday, September 19, is based on detailed assessments of more than 1,000 pregnancy-related deaths between 2017 and 2019.

Study conducted before COVID pandemic and Roe v. Wade reversal

The report captures a period before the Covid-19 pandemic affected the planet and before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal right to an abortion. Maternal mortality in the country has gotten worse since then.

A study published in June found that maternal mortality spiked in the first year of the COVID pandemic, especially among Black and Hispanic women.

Researchers found 25 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births between April and December 2020, up by 33 percent compared with 19 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births for the two years before that period.

The United States is an outlier when it comes to maternal mortality. The country has rates many times higher than those of other wealthy nations. Black women in the United States are three times more likely to die than White women in the country, while Native American women in the U.S are twice as likely to die of pregnancy-related causes.

What causes pregnancy-related deaths in the United States?

Vice President Kamala Harris wrote in a letter introducing the Biden administration's "Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis," which was launched back in June, that far too many women experience neglect, pain, and loss during what should be one of the most joyous times of their lives.

The plan contains five key goals to make the United States the best country in the world for having a baby. Among the plan's goals are better data on maternal health, a diversified health care workforce that cares for pregnant women around the time of birth, and better access to care, including mental and behavioral health.

The data published by the CDC were based on analyses made by Maternal Mortality Review Committees, which are meant to help identify recommendations to prevent pregnancy-related deaths. Researchers found that 53 percent of pregnancy-related deaths happened more than a week after birth. About 1 in 5 (22 percent) women died during their pregnancy, and 13 percent died on the day of delivery.

Mental health issues were the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths, with these conditions involved in more than 1 in 5 deaths among pregnant women and new moms.