Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released this week shows a rise in maternal deaths in 2024, a concerning halt to the downward trend over the previous two years.
According to the CDC, more women died last year while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of the pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.
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The maternal mortality rate increased to 19.0 deaths per 100,000 live births in December 2024, compared to 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in December 2023.
The recent uptick is discouraging since rates have previously reached pre-pandemic levels. Maternal deaths had skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in December 2020 to 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in December 2021. The rate then dropped to 22.3 per 100,000 live births by December 2022.
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A consistent finding in maternal mortality rates across years: persistent racial and ethnic inequalities, with Black and Asian women experiencing the highest rates of maternal deaths.
As of December 2024, maternal mortality rates were highest among Black women (47.5 deaths per 100,000 live births), followed by Asian women (17.7 per 100,000), Hispanic women (13.1 per 100,000), and white women (15.2 per 100,000).
Asian women experienced the largest increase in the last year, rising from 10.7 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023.
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By age, maternal deaths increased in the last year among women under 25 years of age (rising from 12.5 per 100,000 to 15.1) as well as women aged 40 and older (rising from 59.8 per 100,000 to 68.5).