National Partnership calls out recent effort to downplay U.S. maternal mortality crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 18, 2024 – In case you missed it, the National Partnership for Women & Families is pushing back on a study released last week claiming that the devastating maternal mortality crisis has been overblown. There is no question that the rate of maternal mortality in the United States is high compared to our peers. The Partnership has worked closely with federal and state lawmakers to prioritize improving data collection and hearing the experiences of real women, particularly women of color, who have faced disproportionate and distressing challenges in receiving high-quality maternal care. Not only has the CDC affirmed their data practices demonstrating the increasing rates of maternal mortality, the Biden administration has committed increased federal resources to address the growing crisis.

The National Partnership has a decades-long track record of studying our country’s maternal health crisis and advocating for policy solutions. The grim reality is that:

• More people die per capita as a result of pregnancy and childbirth in this country than in any other high-income country.
• Black women and birthing individuals are three times more likely to die from pregnancy than their white counterparts.
• Black women with college educations still have a higher maternal mortality rate then white women who have not completed high school.
• 84 percent of maternal deaths are preventable, but systemic barriers and inadequate access to quality, compassionate, and affordable health care continue to drive this crisis.
• Giving birth has only gotten more dangerous due to policy changes in the aftermath of Dobbs as reproductive health care services are slashed and access to care is deteriorating.

Bottom line
Maternal mortality is an important measurement, but it is only one piece of the maternal health crisis – many more birthing people suffer from severe maternal morbidity, mental health challenges, inadequate parental support and care, and more. The Partnership continues to urge state and federal policy makers to prioritize improving data collection efforts, particularly in communities of color, to adequately measure the scale of the maternal mortality and health care crisis and correct the disparities in maternal mortality for Black women and other women of color. Incorporating the lived experiences and stories of disproportionately affected communities is critical to making informed policy choices to improve the lives of families.

The National Partnership for Women & Families President Jocelyn C. Frye, and our experts, are available to discuss the real state of the maternal health crisis and what’s at stake for women in the face of attempts to undermine their lived maternal health care experiences.

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Media Contact:

Miriam Cash
Email
202-986-2600