2014 to 2021 Saw Rise in U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate

FRIDAY, April 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. maternal mortality rate (MMR) increased significantly from 2014 to 2021, with a rapid increase after 2019, according to a study published online March 18 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Zachary H. Hughes, M.D., from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues examined changes in age distribution and U.S. MMR between 2014 and 2021. The analysis included data from women aged 15 to 44 years identified from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wonder databases.

The researchers found that during the study period, the mean age of women giving birth changed from 28.3 to 29.4 years, while the MMR increased significantly from 16.5 to 18.9 per 100,000 live births by 2019. Acceleration in MMR spiked to 31.8 by 2021. Change in maternal age distribution accounted for 36 percent of the total change in the MMR from 2014 to 2019 and 4 percent from 2019 to 2021. There were significant increases in age-specific MMR components for those aged 25 to 29 years and 30 to 34 years from 2014 to 2019. Except for the 15- to 19-year-old group, all five-year age strata saw increases in age-specific MMR from 2019 to 2021.

"It is critical that we understand what the causes of deaths are and how we can prevent them, as maternal deaths are largely preventable," coauthor Sadiya Khan, M.D., also from Northwestern University, said in a statement. "While some states, like Illinois, have maternal mortality review committees, we also need better national infrastructure and surveillance programs to review and address the root causes of the maternal health crisis."

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