U.S. Fails to Lower Risk for Maternal Death

Maternal mortality is defined by the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of ending a pregnancy. However, the state-by-state adoption of standardized questions to capture this information on death certificates has occurred piecemeal within the last 15 years. To calculate nationwide maternal mortality estimates, investigators grouped states according to when they adopted standardized pregnancy-related questions on death certificates; in further analysis, rates were adjusted to understand how much of the mortality change resulted from increased ascertainment versus true changes in death rates.

Between 2000 and 2014, raw maternal mortality doubled from 9.8 to 21.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. After adjustment for ascert…