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Maternal Mortality Hit Highest Level in 60 Years
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Maternal mortality increased 40% in the United States in 2021, according to new data released by the National Center for Health Statistics. Maternal deaths are those that take place during pregnancy or within 42 days following delivery.
This increase represents 1,205 women who died of maternal causes in 2021, compared with 861 deaths in 2020. The maternal mortality rate for 2021 was 33 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with 24 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020. This is the highest rate the nation has seen since 1965.
Mortality rates increased significantly with a woman’s age, with the rate for women aged 40 and over nearly eight times higher than the rate for women under the age of 25.
COVID-19 contributed to a quarter of maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021, according to a 2022 oversight report. Provisional data suggests that maternal deaths peaked in 2021 and began to go down in 2022.
REFERENCES
Hoyert, D. (2023, February 23). Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2020. National Center for Health Statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2020/maternal-mortality-rates-2020.htm
National Vital Statistics System. (2023, February 5). Provisional maternal death counts. National Center for Health Statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/provisional-maternal-deaths.htm
United States Government Accountability Office. (2022, October). Maternal health: Outcomes worsened and disparities persisted during the pandemic. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105871.pdf
