Why does the US have such a high maternal mortality rate?

Amid fierce debates around abortion and challenges with access to healthcare, women in the United States face another battle: the increasing risk of death associated with pregnancy.

The US has the highest maternal mortality rate of all high-income countries, at 22 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to analysis published by the Commonwealth Fund in June. It based this assessment on data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of which the US is a member.

Some studies suggest that the high rate of US maternal mortality can be attributed to specific shortcomings in the country’s healthcare system, including one that especially impacts women from minority groups.

So what does the US maternal mortality crisis look like? Is there a way forward? And will abortion bans make it worse?

Maternal mortality refers to the death of a woman during pregnancy, childbirth or within the “postpartum” period following childbirth or the termination of a pregnancy due to complications or an abortion. These deaths can be caused by conditions such as excessive bleeding or seizures, but are related to or aggravated by pregnancy.

The US count includes deaths that occur within up to a year of delivery or termination of a pregnancy. In total, 817 US women in the US died of maternity-related causes in 2022. The country’s maternal mortality ratio that year stood at 22 deaths for every 100,000 live births.

However, this rate varies depending on ethnicity. Black women are more than twice as likely to experience a pregnancy-related death compared to the country’s average. For every 100,000 live births among Black women in 2022, nearly 50 women died within a year of delivery or termination.

Typically, some of the leading complications associated with maternal deaths have been “obstetric” or directly associated with pregnancy, such as excessive bleeding, placental blockages in the birth canal, and seizures.

However, the type of risks facing pregnant women in the US seem to be changing.