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New governmental data suggests that pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. have returned to pre-pandemic rates. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports about 680 women died in 2023 during or shortly after childbirth, compared to 817 deaths in 2022 and 1,205 in 2021.
The reduction in deaths is primarily linked to the pandemic’s easing, with fewer death certificates citing COVID as a contributing factor to pregnancy-related fatalities. Last year, less than 10 such death certificates were recorded, compared to more than 400 in 2021.
Despite these figures, maternal death rates have not improved over the last five years. Racial disparities also persist, with Black mothers experiencing over two and a half times the death rate of Hispanic and white mothers.
Measures that may be helping to reduce death and related health issues from pregnancy include increased efforts to tackle infections and address blood loss. However, access to medical care before, during, and after a birth may be hindered by factors including rural hospital closures and the effect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to abolish federally mandated abortion rights.
Efforts to reduce maternal deaths face challenges due to these political and social forces, says Dr. Laura Riley, OB-GYN at Weill Cornell Medicine.
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