--- title: Pregnancy-Related U.S. Death Rates Have Jumped in Recent Years description: Researchers found large disparities based on state, race, and ethnicity. canonical: https://time.com/7276047/pregnancy-related-death-rates-rise-us/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-04-09T15:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:13:41.758Z article:section: Health og:title: Pregnancy-Related U.S. Death Rates Have Jumped in Recent Years og:description: Researchers found large disparities based on state, race, and ethnicity. og:url: https://time.com/7276047/pregnancy-related-death-rates-rise-us/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd8776932a34b3/6998c5a1e2d64b3fe4c5f3d0/Pregnancy-Related-Deaths-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2119 og:image:height: 1192 og:image:alt: Close-Up midsection of pregnant woman holding her belly. Pregnancy and wellbeing concepts og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pregnancy-Related U.S. Death Rates Have Jumped in Recent Years twitter:description: Researchers found large disparities based on state, race, and ethnicity. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd8776932a34b3/6998c5a1e2d64b3fe4c5f3d0/Pregnancy-Related-Deaths-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pregnancy-Related U.S. Death Rates Have Jumped in Recent Years > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Apr 9, 2025 3:00 PM UTC  The study analyzed four years of nationwide data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and found large disparities based on state, race, and ethnicity. The study analyzed four years of nationwide data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and found large disparities based on state, race, and ethnicity. Getty Images—KDP by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Apr 9, 2025 3:00 PM UTC A new study found that the rates of pregnancy-related death in the U.S. increased by nearly 28% between 2018 and 2022, with large disparities based on state, race, and ethnicity. The study, published in [_JAMA Network Open_](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.4325?guestAccessKey=601c54f6-1301-480b-a5cc-38ece562efb7&utm%5Fsource=for%5Fthe%5Fmedia&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=ftm%5Flinks&utm%5Fcontent=tfl&utm%5Fterm=040925)on April 9, analyzed four years of nationwide [data](https://wonder.cdc.gov/) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers found that there were 6,283 pregnancy-related deaths during that time. The study determined that the rate increased from 25.3 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018 to a peak of 44.1 in 2021, before dropping slightly to 32.6 in 2022\. The increase occurred across all the age groups that researchers analyzed, but people between the ages of 25 and 39 experienced the highest increase, according to the study. The study didn’t investigate why the rates of pregnancy-related death increased over the four-year period. But researchers noted in the study that the COVID-19 pandemic could have had an impact on maternal health and the health care system at large, particularly in 2021. Dr. Rose Molina, one of the study’s authors and an ob-gyn at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, says she and her colleagues observed “a large variation by state” in the rates of pregnancy-related death. Alabama had the highest at 59.7 deaths per 100,000 live births, followed by Mississippi at 58.2\. Meanwhile, California had the lowest rate at 18.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, followed by Minnesota at 19.1\. Molina says some explanations for the disparities could be variation in access to prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care, as well as in state Medicaid coverage. “There really shouldn’t be this level of variation across the states, and we need to do better across all the states,” Molina says. “One of the points we made in that article was that if all states could have performed as well as the highest performing state, like California, we could have avoided 2,679 pregnancy-related deaths” in that four-year period. **Read More:** [_Infant Mortality and Births Increased In Most States With Abortion Bans, Studies Find_](https://time.com/7225531/infant-mortality-births-increased-states-abortion-bans-studies/) The study also found that the pregnancy-related death rate was 3.8 times higher among American Indian and Alaska Native women compared with the rate among white women. Similarly, the rate was 2.8 times higher among non-Hispanic Black women compared with the rate among white women. Molina says many other studies have found that variations in access based on income or geography, as well as biases in the health care system, can all contribute to racial and ethnic inequities in maternal health outcomes. The number of pregnancy-related deaths between 2018 and 2022 includes 1,891 late maternal deaths, which are deaths “from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy” that take place a little more than a month up until one year after the end of pregnancy, according to the study. “Late maternal death occurs in what could be a health care delivery gap between obstetric care and transition to primary care,” researchers wrote. American Indian and Alaska Native women also had the highest rate in the late maternal death period, followed by non-Hispanic Black women, according to Molina. The study said this suggests “that these groups may face disparities in access to postnatal care, as well as other socioeconomic and systemic challenges impacting maternal health outcomes.” The study found that, overall, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths. Cancer, mental and behavior disorders, and drug or alcohol-induced death were contributing factors to late maternal death. The U.S. has the [highest maternal mortality rate](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/nov/maternal-mortality-maternity-care-us-compared-10-countries) among [high-income nations](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/jun/insights-us-maternal-mortality-crisis-international-comparison), and Molina says the study “illustrates why we cannot take our eyes off of maternal health.” “It’s important that we not lose sight of how maternal health needs to be a focus of investment in the years to come—that we still have work to do,” Molina says. “We need to continue investing in the infrastructure \[and\] the policies that ensure access to high-quality pregnancy care for everyone.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7276047/pregnancy-related-death-rates-rise-us/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7276047/pregnancy-related-death-rates-rise-us/"},"headline":"Pregnancy-Related U.S. Death Rates Have Jumped in Recent Years","datePublished":"2025-04-09T15:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:13:41.758Z","description":"Researchers found large disparities based on state, race, and ethnicity.","url":"https://time.com/7276047/pregnancy-related-death-rates-rise-us/","keywords":["Reproductive Health","News Desk","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd8776932a34b3/6998c5a1e2d64b3fe4c5f3d0/Pregnancy-Related-Deaths-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20bd8776932a34b3/6998c5a1e2d64b3fe4c5f3d0/Pregnancy-Related-Deaths-Study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Close-Up midsection of pregnant woman holding her belly. 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