US maternal death rate rose slightly last year, health officials say

NEW YORK AP More U S women died around the time of childbirth last year reversing two years of decline according to provisional figures posted Wednesday The Centers for Ailment Control and Prevention announced people died last year during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth That s up from deaths in but down from and when it was the highest level in more than years The maternal mortality rate rose to deaths per live births up from the year before The CDC counts women who die while pregnant during childbirth and up to days after birth from conditions related to pregnancy Excessive bleeding blood vessel blockages and infections are leading causes Such deaths spiked during the COVID- pandemic as the coronavirus was particularly dangerous to pregnant women And in the worst days of the pandemic burned out physicians may have added to the liability by ignoring pregnant women s worries experts say The waning of COVID- is considered a major reason for the declines in maternal deaths in and experts say But those improvements are now being offset by other factors that may reduce access to clinical care experts say They say the list includes the closure of rural hospitals and the U S Supreme Court decision that did away with the federally established right to abortion which caused several doctors to feel constrained about providing care during pregnancy-related healthcare emergencies The U S has one of the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations Past research has identified wide racial disparities in such deaths with Black women dying at a far higher rate than white women The Associated Press Wellness and Science Department receives aid from the Howard Hughes Physiological Institute s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The AP is solely responsible for all content Source