U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate Increases Over Last Decade

March 10, 2010 — The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. appears to have risen over the past 10 years, reaching a rate that is four times higher than the federal government's 2010 goal, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. In 2006, the last year for which nationwide data are available, about 13.3 maternal deaths occurred for every 100,000 live births, compared with around seven deaths per 100,000 births one decade before. U.S. officials had hoped to decrease the rate to about 3.3 deaths in 2010. In California, the state that most closely tracks maternal mortality data, there were about 16.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2006, an increase from 5.6 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in 1996.

Mark Chassin of the Joint Commission called U.S. maternal mortality rates "unacceptable." He added, "Maybe as many as half of these [deaths] are preventable."

Maternal deaths are classified as those that occur within 42 days after delivery and are directly related to pregnancy or childbirth. The most common causes are deep vein thrombosis-caused pulmonary emboli, hemorrhage and uncontrolled blood pressure. For reasons that are unclear, black women are at least three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women. For every maternal death, about 50 additional women experience serious complications during pregnancy or delivery, according to University of Louisville's Jeffrey King, a spokesperson from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Although it is unclear what is driving the overall increase, possible explanations include an increase in caesarean-section deliveries and a greater number of pregnancies among women older than age 30, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. One in five pregnant women is obese, which can lead to complications such as higher blood pressure and diabetes. In addition, the way maternal deaths are counted and tracked has changed over the last 10 years. However, only about 30% of the increase is likely due to changes in reporting methods, according to Elliott Main of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (Neergaard, AP/Yahoo! News, 3/9).