Study challenges scale of maternal health crisis in the U.S.

(CNN) – Hundreds of women in the United States die from complications related to pregnancy, childbirth and the time after giving birth each year, and the country’s high maternal death rate makes it an outlier among developed nations. Federal data shows that maternal mortality has surged in the U.S. in recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and experts have expressed concern that the problem is getting worse. In 2022, the Biden administration launched a plan to address the maternal health crisis facing the nation, highlighting that pregnancy and childbirth are “traumatic experiences” for many and the “preventable deaths, life-altering complications, and untreated mental health and substance use disorders” that have persisted. But a new study suggests that maternal mortality rates in the U.S. may be lower and more stable than federal data suggests – though still very high. Using a ‘definition-based approach’ In 2003, in an effort to better track and understand maternal mortality in the U.S., the National Center for Health Statistics – part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – requested that states add a “pregnancy checkbox” to death certificates to indicate whether a deceased woman was pregnant at or around her time of...