Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Healthy You
    • Job listings
    • Q&As
    • Special sections
  • Multimedia
    • Quiz
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • App
  • FAQs
    • Advertising
    • Subscriptions
    • For APHA members
    • Internships
    • Change of address
  • About
    • About The Nation's Health
    • Submissions
    • Permissions
    • Purchase articles
    • Join APHA
  • Contact us
    • Feedback
  • APHA
    • AJPH
    • NPHW

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The Nation's Health
  • APHA
    • AJPH
    • NPHW
  • My alerts
The Nation's Health

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Healthy You
    • Job listings
    • Q&As
    • Special sections
  • Multimedia
    • Quiz
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • App
  • FAQs
    • Advertising
    • Subscriptions
    • For APHA members
    • Internships
    • Change of address
  • About
    • About The Nation's Health
    • Submissions
    • Permissions
    • Purchase articles
    • Join APHA
  • Contact us
    • Feedback
  • Follow The Nation's Health on Twitter
  • Follow APHA on Twitter
  • Visit APHA on Facebook
  • Follow APHA on Youtube
  • Follow APHA on Instagram
  • Follow The Nation's Health RSS feeds
NewsNation

CDC: 3 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths among US women could be prevented

Emily Pollack
The Nation's Health August 2019, 49 (6) 5;
Emily Pollack
  • Search for this author on this site

Most deaths of women in the U.S. due to a pregnancy complication can be prevented, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in May.

Researchers found that nearly a third of pregnancy-related deaths occurred during gestation, and over two-thirds occurred on the delivery date and within a week of delivery.

Figure

While most U.S. mothers who give birth do so safely, pregancy mortality remains a concern among minorities, a study finds.

Photo by FatCamera, courtesy iStockphoto

Of the approximately 700 women who die each year from a pregnancy complication, about 60% are likely preventable, according to a study in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The findings were based on CDC’s analysis of 2011-2015 national pregnancy death rates and data from 13 state maternal mortality review committees from 2013-2017.

Researchers estimated that 17 deaths of women occur per 100,000 live births in the U.S. Black women have the highest mortality rate from pregnancy complications — 43 die per 100,000 live births — followed by American Indians and Alaska Natives, at 32.5 per 100,000. Among white women in the U.S., 13 die from pregnancy complications per 100,000 live births, over one-third fewer deaths than black women.

Race is a risk factor, but so is age, education and marital status. The number of women dying from pregnancy-related deaths who had not graduated from high school was more than 2.5 times higher than pregnancy mortality for college graduates, the study said. Women over age 40 were twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than women in their 30s. Single women were more likely to die than married women.

Other social determinants of health, such as economic stability, medical awareness, housing stability and regular access to public or private transportation, are also factors in pregnancy mortality rates.

Heart disease and stroke caused more than 1 in 3 pregnancy-related deaths across all races and ethnicities. Hemorrhages and infections were also common causes of death.

States and communities need to take action to ensure health care for all pregnant and postpartum women, Anne Schuchat, MD, principal deputy director of CDC, said during a telebriefing in May.

Prioritizing chronic conditions for treatment and having medical counseling available are good starting points, she said. Some U.S. health systems are already doing that and can be used as models.

“The bottom line is that too many women are dying largely from preventable deaths associated with their pregnancies,” Schuchat said. “We can’t prevent every one of these tragedies, but we can and should do more.”

For more information on the study, which was also published as a CDC Vital Signs report, visit www.cdc.gov/mmwr.

  • Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

The Nation's Health: 49 (6)
The Nation's Health
Vol. 49, Issue 6
August 2019
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Complete Issue (PDF)

Healthy You

Print
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article
We do not capture any email addresses.
Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
CDC: 3 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths among US women could be prevented
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The Nation's Health
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this item on The Nation's Health website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
CDC: 3 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths among US women could be prevented
Emily Pollack
The Nation's Health August 2019, 49 (6) 5;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
CDC: 3 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths among US women could be prevented
Emily Pollack
The Nation's Health August 2019, 49 (6) 5;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Tweet Widget Facebook Like LinkedIn logo

Jump to section

  • Top

More in this TOC Section

  • ‘Photovoice’ projects promote youth advocacy in public health
  • Q&A: EPA elevating environmental justice and civil rights
  • Educators use novel ways to engage youth on climate health issues
Show more Nation

Subjects

  • Maternal Health

Popular features

  • Healthy You
  • Special sections
  • Q&As
  • Quiz
  • Podcasts

FAQs

  • Advertising
  • Subscriptions
  • For APHA members
  • Submissions
  • Change of address

APHA

  • Join APHA
  • Annual Meeting
  • NPHW
  • AJPH
  • Get Ready
  • Contact APHA
  • Privacy policy

© 2023 The Nation's Health

Powered by HighWire