Maternal deaths in the United States rose slightly last year, reversing two years of decline and once again drawing attention to the stark disparities facing minority communities. Data from the CDC show 688 women died during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, up from 669 the previous year. Though this year’s rates are lower than the historic peak witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when maternal deaths reached their highest level in more than fifty years, experts warn that the improvements may be stalling.
Black women remain at substantially higher risk, with previous research confirming that maternal mortality rates among Black women are “far higher” than among white women. The list of contributing factors is complex: leading causes such as excessive bleeding, blood vessel blockages, and infections persist, but experts say social and systemic forces also play a role. Loss of rural hospitals continues to reduce access to critical care, and some doctors now feel constricted when treating pregnancy emergencies after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federally guaranteed right to abortion.
COVID-19 exposed and intensified these divides. The coronavirus proved especially dangerous to pregnant women, and “in the worst days of the pandemic, burned out physicians may have added to the risk by ignoring pregnant women’s worries.” While the pandemic’s waning helped lower rates temporarily, these earlier improvements are now being threatened by broader issues, keeping the U.S. among wealthy nations with the highest maternal mortality and widest ethnic gaps.
See: “U.S. Maternal Death Rate Rose Slightly Last Year, Health Officials Say” (April 30, 2025)
