US has highest in maternity deaths among high-income countries, study says

The United States continues to have a higher rate of women dying in pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum compared with all other high-income nations, a new report shows.

In 2022, the United States had about 22 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the latest data. This rate is more than double, and in some cases triple, the rates observed in most other high-income nations, as per the report released Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation dedicated to health care issues.

The report also highlights a significantly higher maternal death rate among Black women in the United States, nearly 50 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Conversely, half of the high-income countries included in the report had fewer than 5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, with Norway recording zero maternal deaths.

A new glossary of medical terms is part of a broader, ongoing initiative to make the language of conception and pregnancy more compassionate.

The report also said there aren’t enough midwives in the country and midwife care is not integrated enough into the healthcare system.

Researchers looked at maternal mortality data from 14 high-income countries.