Pregnancy-related deaths fall to pre-pandemic levels, new data shows

U.S. pregnancy-related deaths person fallen backmost to pre-pandemic levels, caller authorities information suggests.

About 680 women died past twelvemonth during gestation aliases soon aft childbirth, according to provisional CDC data. That's down from 817 deaths successful 2022 and 1,205 successful 2021, erstwhile it was nan highest level successful much than 50 years.

COVID-19 seems to beryllium nan main mentation for nan improvement, said Donna Hoyert, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maternal mortality researcher.

The coronavirus tin beryllium peculiarly vulnerable to pregnant women. And, successful nan worst days of nan pandemic, burned retired physicians whitethorn person added to nan consequence by ignoring pregnant women's worries, experts say.

Fewer decease certificates are mentioning COVID-19 as a contributor to pregnancy-related deaths. The count was complete 400 successful 2021 but less than 10 past year, Hoyert said.

The agency connected Thursday released a study detailing nan last maternal mortality information for 2022. It besides precocious released provisional information for 2023. Those numbers are expected to alteration aft further study — nan last 2022 number was 11% higher than nan provisional one. Still, 2023 is expected to extremity up down from 2022, Hoyert said.

The CDC counts women who dice while pregnant, during childbirth and up to 42 days aft commencement from conditions considered related to pregnancy. Excessive bleeding, humor alloy blockages and infections are starring causes.

There were astir 19 maternal deaths for each 100,000 unrecorded births successful 2023, according to nan provisional data. That's successful statement pinch rates seen successful 2018 and 2019.

But group disparities remain: The death complaint successful Black moms is much than two-and-a-half times higher than that of achromatic and Hispanic mothers.

"In nan past 5 years we've really not improved connected lowering nan maternal decease complaint successful our country, truthful there's still a batch of activity to do," said Ashley Stoneburner, nan March of Dimes' head of applied investigation and analytics.

The defense statement this week kicked disconnected an acquisition run to get much pregnant women to see taking low-dose aspirin if they are astatine consequence of preeclempsia — a precocious humor unit upset that tin harm some nan mother and baby.

There are different efforts that whitethorn beryllium helping to little deaths and lingering wellness problems related to pregnancy, including stepped-up efforts to conflict infections and reside humor loss, said Dr. Laura Riley, a New York City-based obstetrician who handles high-risk pregnancies.

But there's a consequence that those kinds of improvements are being offset by a number of factors that whitethorn trim nan expertise of women to get aesculapian attraction before, during and aft a birth, she said. Experts opportunity nan database includes nan closure of agrarian hospitals and a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court determination that did distant pinch nan federally established correct to abortion — and contributed to expert burnout by causing doctors to consciousness constrained astir providing attraction during pregnancy-related aesculapian emergencies.

"I deliberation there's bully news. We're making strides successful definite areas," said Riley, caput OB-GYN astatine Weill Cornell Medicine. "But nan bad news and scary news is ... location are these different governmental and societal forces that make this (reducing maternal deaths) difficult."

In:
• Health
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Pregnancy