Maternal deaths in the United States nearly doubled over three years, with a sharp rise at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report released Thursday.
In the newest available federal data, 1,205 women died from causes tied to pregnancy and childbirth in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2018, researchers reported 658 such deaths. The report did not offer known or suspected causes behind the increase.
Raw numbers offer one part of the story, but rates reveal the drastic increase in these deaths during a short period of time. In 2018, the U.S. maternal mortality rate was 17.4 deaths per 100,000 live births. But by 2021, during the first full year of the pandemic, that rate surged to 32.9 deaths for every 100,000 live births.
Chart by Megan McGrew/PBS NewsHour
As with so many aspects of the nation's health care system and outcomes, this analysis highlights sharp disparities across different communities. Black women suffer disproportionately higher rates of maternal mortality than white or Hispanic women, according to the report. In 2021, Black women died at a rate that was 2.6 times higher than white women, the data showed.
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For years, the United States has been considered one of the unsafest places to give birth among developed nations. More than half of all maternal deaths happen during the postpartum period, and those data have been part of a big push among U.S. health advocates to offer pregnant and postpartum people Medicaid throughout the 12 months after giving birth, up from 60 days.
So far, 29 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the 12-month postpartum extension for Medicaid, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Chart by Megan McGrew/PBS NewsHour
Public health advocates have said policies that extend consistent coverage under Medicaid to include the first year after pregnancy would help reduce maternal mortality overall, but especially among communities that have endured disparities as a result of structural racism and unequal access to affordable health care.
"That's more persistent," said Donna Hoyert, a health scientist with the CDC's Division of Vital Statistics who has monitored maternal mortality data for roughly three decades.
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Over time, federal and state officials have changed how they record maternal mortality, making direct comparisons between years problematic, she said. But from 1929 to 1982, Hoyert said the U.S. saw a "continuous decrease" in maternal mortality.
After 1982, the nation's maternal mortality began to plateau, "but had a lot of bounce," she said, meaning it went up or down slightly year over year.
Time will tell how long the nation's maternal mortality rate will taper to pre-pandemic levels, Hoyert said, but history may offer some clues. Following the 1918 influenza pandemic, she said, the maternal mortality rate soared from 607.4 deaths per 100,000 live births to 916.4 per 100,000 live births. A year later, those deaths fell but hadn't fully recovered.