Recent Years Saw Increase in U.S. Pregnancy-Related Deaths
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, April 18, 2025 -- During 2018 to 2022, pregnancy-related deaths in the United States increased, according to a study published online April 9 in JAMA Network Open.
Yingxi Chen, M.D., Ph.D., from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues examined the age-standardized national rates of pregnancy-related death from 2018 to 2022 in the United States using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research.
There were 6,283 pregnancy-related deaths, including 1,891 late maternal deaths during 2018 to 2022. The researchers found that there was an increase in the age-standardized annual and aggregated rate of pregnancy-related mortality (ASR) by 27.7 percent from 2018 to 2022 (25.3 to 32.6 deaths per 100,000 live births). The increase was seen across age groups and was disproportionately driven by deaths among women aged 25 to 39 years (by 36.8 percent). Considerable variation was seen in rates by state, from 18.5 to 59.7 deaths per 100,000 live births. Overall, 2,679 pregnancy-related deaths could have been prevented from 2018 to 2022 if the national rate was reduced to the lowest state rate. The highest ASR was seen in American Indian and Alaska Native women, followed by non-Hispanic Black women (106.3 and 76.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, respectively). Mental and behavior disorders and drug-induced and alcohol-induced death were important contributing causes of late maternal death, although cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of the overall pregnancy-related deaths.
"Our analysis provides important insights that should inform the shared goal of preventing avoidable pregnancy-related deaths in the United States," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted April 2025
Read this next
Twins Have Less Fat Accumulation Than Singletons Beginning in Early Pregnancy
THURSDAY, April 17, 2025 -- Twins have proportionally less fat tissue accumulation in utero compared with singletons as early as 15 weeks of gestation, according to a study...
Incidence of Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infections in U.S. 15.7 Per 100,000 Births in 2019
TUESDAY, April 15, 2025 -- The incidence of neonatal herpes simplex virus (nHSV) infections in the United States in 2019 was 15.7 per 100,000 hospital births, according to a study...
Medical Complexity Seen in 12 Percent of Military-Connected Children
FRIDAY, April 11, 2025 -- The cumulative incidence of children with medical complexity (CMC)-defining diagnoses in military-connected children is 12.0 percent by age 60 months...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.